Working within the statutory requirements established for all Health Regulatory Colleges in Ontario; the College views its Quality Assurance Programs as a means of supporting members in maintaining their knowledge and skills throughout their careers. While adhering to rigorous legislative requirements, the College’s Quality Assurance Programs have been designed to be supportive rather than investigative. Whenever participation in the Quality Assurance process leads to the identification of the need for remediation; information about this remains confidential as member-specific information about Quality Assurance involvement is not publicly available.
SELF-ASSESSMENTS
The Quality Assurance Committee reviews the fully completed Self-Assessment Guide (SAG) submitted by members who did not make their Declaration of Completion by the required date. At the beginning of the second quarter (September 1, 2022), there were 13 outstanding SAG declarations. During the second quarter, the Committee addressed six of these matters.
- In two cases, the members have resigned their membership
- In one case, the member is deceased
- In two cases, the members held Certificates of Registration for Interim Autonomous Practice and were reminded that, since their home jurisdictions have mandatory Self-Assessment requirements, they needed only to confirm that they were compliant with the Self-Assessment requirements in those jurisdictions.
- In one case, the member was granted a deferral of the requirement because of serious illness, currently holds an Inactive Certificate of Registration and has undertaken to notify the Committee when they resume professional practice, at which time they will be required to participate in a Peer Assisted Review.
The Committee is currently addressing the remaining seven outstanding matters.
PEER-ASSISTED REVIEWS (PAR)
Members are selected to participate in a Peer Assisted Review via either random and/or stratified random selection. A member is also required to participate in a PAR if they have not submitted their Self-Assessment Guide Declaration of Completion and have also not submitted their fully completed Self-Assessment Guide after it had been requested.
At the beginning of the second quarter there were 61 PARs outstanding. These reviews had all been initiated before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and postponed until in-person contact was deemed safer. As reported in earlier editions of HeadLines, the Committee decided to require all members selected for a PAR to participate either virtually or in-person, without further delay. All outstanding cases are at various stages of the process.
The Committee completed reviews of the reports of six, recently conducted, Peer Assisted Reviews. In all six cases, the members were reported to have met the Standards of the profession.
We are currently seeking additional Peer Assisted Review Assessors. Members who have been practicing with a Certificate of Registration for Autonomous Practice for at least five years, and who have an interest in helping fellow members enhance the quality of their services and learning from their peers, are encouraged to contact the Quality Assurance Coordinator at qualityassurance@cpo.on.ca. Training and ongoing support for Assessors will be provided by the College and. Members may also earn CPD credits for their involvement as Assessors.
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)
Members who did not submit their Declaration of Completion of the minimum requirements of the mandatory Continuing Professional Development program by the required date are required to submit all CPD documentation for audit by the Quality Assurance Committee. Six members were required to provide their documentation for this reason. An additional six members were granted deferrals of the requirement to complete the CPD declarations, as they have been prevented from compiling their documentation due to exceptionally difficult personal circumstances. The Committee also conducts audits of members who have been randomly selected. So far, 38 members were selected at random for review. The Committee anticipates conducting a total of 50 audits this year.
During the second quarter, 12 CPD matters were reviewed by the Committee.
- In 10 cases, the members had been observed to have met the requirements of the program
- In two cases, the Committee identified the lack of sufficient detail in the member’s submissions as a concern and provided remedial feedback.
It was hoped that revisions to the online CPD credit tracking system would be completed before the current CPD cycle for members with even-numbered Certificates of Registration began on July 1, 2022. Due to changes being made to the College’s IT systems, the tracking system unfortunately was not available at the start of the 2022-2024 cycle. A simple tracking sheet for members to use on their own devices until a new online tracking system is operational is available here.