The Yukon government is seeking to update the Health Professions Act to be tabled at the legislature by the fall sitting of 2027, according to a Jan. 7 Yukon government press release.
The project to “modernize” the Yukon’s health professions legislation is being informed by public engagement the release reads. The release details plans by the government to obtain input from Yukon health professionals.
The Yukon Medical Association received a survey from the Yukon government back in December asking its members questions about their professional insights on topics specific to their knowledge, said president of the association, Dr. Derek Bryant.
The Yukon government's communications analyst, Taylor Harvey, confirmed with the News that the Yukon government is currently reviewing and revising the Health Professions Act for the first time since 2003.
Bryant spoke about the subject matter of the survey and confirmed with the News on Jan. 7 that he believes the survey his members received was to gauge what encompassing more healthcare professions under a single act would mean for the healthcare system
“Right now, there's the Health Professions Act, as I understand it, that's relevant to physicians, and then there's the Health Professions Act that's relevant to nurses. And I believe there's a desire to unify the act,” Dr. Bryant said.
Harvey wrote to the News on Jan. 7 stating that the Yukon government's goal at this stage was to unify the acts and modernize the system with added flexibility. The next goal would be to establish regulations for each healthcare profession under the revised act, he added.
“Once complete, phase two will be to establish regulations for each health profession under the new act. As part of this process, we will be assessing the standards needed to support each profession.” Harvey wrote.
The Yukon government is running an online public engagement survey from Jan. 6 to Feb. 7, developed in partnership with the Yukon Bureau of Statistics, the press release reads. An in-person public engagement session will be held on Jan. 21 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse.
The Yukon government’s communication analyst, Harvey, said that the public engagements are, in part, to help the government understand what barriers exist within the current system.
“This is, in part, what the engagement aims to identify through the health professionals survey, the public survey and a multitude of engagement sessions,” Harvey said.
The Yukon government press release noted that public engagements are there to help guide the development of a legislative framework during the first review stage with an aim that “removes barriers and promotes fair, transparent care for Yukoners.”
Harvey wrote saying that inconsistencies exist between the current pieces of legislation in the Health Professions Act framework, particularly with the licensing and registration of working health professions in the Yukon.
“There are differences in the licensing/registration frameworks including whether there is just registration or registration and licensing. Pathways to licensure also differ, but these are dealt with at the regulation level and considered part of phase two. There are differences in how complaints may be dealt with, which impacts both the public and the health professionals,” Harvey said.
Bryant explained that the complaints process falls under the current Yukon Health Professions Act and carried out by the Yukon Medical Council. He highlighted a limitation in the current complaints process by providing the public with information on physicians who have received complaints and have found to been at risk of harm.
“The Yukon Medical Council, in my understanding, right now, there isn't a mechanism in place to inform the public about a complaint in which a physician has been found to be, you know, a serious risk of harm to members of the public, so a license can be suspended, but there's no mechanism for that communication,” Bryant said.
Harvey said the Yukon government chose the fall sitting of the 2027 legislative assembly to table a revised version of the legislation because of the two phased nature of the project, the first being from 2024 to 2028. He added that the second phase, between 2028 and 2031, entails work on profession-specific regulations.
“The timeline for this project is two-phased. The first phase of this project will run from 2024-2028. This will involve research and engagement, followed possibly by the drafting of the new Health Professions Act. The second phase of the project will entail work on profession-specific regulations with a proposed timeline of 2028-2031,” Harvey said.
Contact Jake Howarth at jake.howarth@yukon-news.com
Editor's note: An earlier version of the article suggested no mechanism for a complaints process existed within the current framework. In fact, a mechanism does exist through the Yukon Medical Council. However, no mechanism exists to provide the public with information about physicians who have received complaints and have found to be a risk to the public.
