Submissions to Government - 2015

CDHA applauds the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health for recognizing the important contributions that dental hygienists, as primary health care professionals, make in the prevention of disease. The committee’s latest report, The Federal Role in the Scope of Practice of Canadian Healthcare Professionals, makes direct reference to several of the issues raised by CDHA during a presentation to the committee earlier this year. Among the committee’s recommendations to the federal government are the following:

• That Health Canada review the roles of dental hygienists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and midwives within the Non-Insured Health Benefits program to improve its ability to provide needed health services in rural and remote communities as part of a healthcare team
• That the federal government work with provincial/territorial governments and with health professional associations to promote a consistent pan-Canadian approach to scope-of-practice expansions
• That the federal government, through Health Canada, work with provincial and territorial governments to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of interprofessional team approaches to the provision of primary health care and that it support research in this direction
• That the federal government, in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, encourage pan-Canadian harmonization of scopes of practice That the federal government work with provincial and territorial governments and other interested stakeholders to assess health human resources planning challenges, particularly in rural and remote areas, and to facilitate the sharing of best practices and planning data

On March 10th CDHA was invited to appear before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Health. The health committee is conducting a study into best practices and federal barriers related to scopes of practice and skills training of healthcare professionals. CDHA called for the federal government to act in 3 areas:

• To recognize dental hygienists as service providers in all federal healthcare programs;
• To review and amend outdated legislation related to scope of practice, particularly in the Far North;
• To Invest in education and training that supports comprehensive scopes of practice across Canada.

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