06/14/2019
ACTION NEEDED TODAY!!
Have you heard of the CAYTON Report regarding changes to health professions act?
Public feedback closes TODAY!
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PLEASE send Feedback to help protect Access to Naturopathic Medicine in BRITISH COLUMBIA TODAY!
A quick summary of why your access to Naturopathic Doctors and care may be affected. And, what you can do to advocate for your healthcare.
***please see sample letter to send your MLA in comments***
A sweeping report came out in December that suggests changing the entire healthcare regulatory framework and subsequently strongly suggests to amalgamate the Naturopathic College with other colleges, which could likely have wide-ranging effects on access to Naturopathic Care.
Problem 1: Report was completed in December, but was not released to the public until April, and only by way of CBC news article.
Problem 2: No indication or instruction was given on how to give feedback, or even that they were asking for feedback. The College of Naturopathic Physicians was only brought in before the report was written and was basically asked to give feedback on how to amalgamate or the government would do it anyway, and was not asked or permitted to give feedback since.
Problem 3: THEN suddenly, THIS article came out Monday, stating that PUBLIC FEEDBACK CLOSES TOMORROW, Friday June 14.
**This is an extremely short timeline given the potential for serious implications to the regulatory framework and access to care.
Problem 4: The report contains gross factual errors and inaccuracies about both the Naturopathic profession and the College, stating that the College was not doing its job to properly regulate its members and has lost public confidence.
Problem 5: The report suggested that, by not publicly commenting on an ongoing investigation of one of its members, it was not regulating properly... when in fact it would have been ACTING AGAINST THE LAW were it to BREACH CONFIDENTIALITY in a case where someone is innocent until proven guilty, and due diligence was performed.
Problem 6: It states that the College "did not punish one of its members enough," by allowing them to give up their license for an ADVERTISING INFRACTION. That’s the HIGHEST PUNISHMENT a professional can receive by a college.
Problem 7: The report quotes two newspaper articles with frank factual errors and sensationalist headlines as “evidence” when no actual research was done into the profession itself.
Problem 8: The report MISSPELLS naturopathic profession and calls it the NEUROPATHIC profession. (Who researched and proofread this report?)
Problem 9: This report was originally commissioned to look into the poor regulation of the College of Dental Surgeons, and subsequently lumps ALL professions into it at the last minute. There was nothing prior to this to indicate that the naturopathic profession was not regulating itself well, or that it lacked “public confidence.” All consumer research shows differently.
Problem 10: With the amount of people who now heavily rely on naturopathic medicine as their primary care providers, as well as care for chronic conditions that are not being adequately serviced in the regular system, this report PUTS NATUROPATHIC SCOPE AND ACCESS AT TO CARE AT RISK.
ALL PATIENTS SHOULD BE HIGHLY CONCERNED AND GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK BY TOMORROW.
“Even if all this does not lead to legislative change that impacts HRPA, the landscape of professional regulation is likely to change in significant ways, and this is bound to have knock-on effects…”
Anyone who would like to make a submission on the future of health-related professional regulation in B.C. can email
PROREGADMIN@gov.bc.ca
using the subject line, Cayton Report.
Submissions will be accepted until June 14 - TODAY
The next few months could mark a major turning point in how B.C.'s health-care professionals are regulated, and members of the public have just a few days left to offer their input.
