B.C. Launches First Canadian Registry for Health Care Workers
This new registry is designed to help ensure individuals working for publicly funded health care employers are providing appropriate care.
| Category | Eldercare |
| Details | The province of British Columbia has launched a first-of-its-kind Canadian registry to help ensure individuals working for publicly funded health care employers in the province are providing appropriate standards of care. The BC Care Aide & Community Health Worker Registry became operational on January 29, but care aides and community health workers will have until April 28 to register. Those registering after that date will be required to demonstrate they have the required knowledge and patient-care skills aquired from a recognized educational institution before they can work for another publicly funded employer. A new voluntary provincial curriculum for care aides and community health workers has also been set up. Under the registry, which is expected to affect about 25,000 workers, employers will be required to report any allegations of patient neglect or abuse by an employee - including financial, verbal, emotional, physical or sexual - to the registry at the time of suspension or termination of employment. The worker will then be taken off the registry pending the outcome of an investigation or arbitration/grievance procedure. Removal could be either permanent or temporary. Workers will be reinstated to the registry if they are either cleared of the allegations or the remedy sought by the employer does not include termination of employment. Employers are responsible for any disciplinary action. The provincial Ministry of Health Services has established a non-binding process through which workers can appeal the decision to remove or suspend them from the registry. There will be four special investigators, agreed upon by unions involved. If a union member disagrees with the decision of the investigator, they can proceed to full arbitration as per their collective agreement. Non-union members who disagree with a finding will have the right to "judicial appeal." The new process also introduces intermediary steps, such as education or alternate work rather than termination. An accused worker could enter into an anger management course or work in non-direct care. |
| Author | Canadian Occupational Health and Safety News |
| Publication Date | February 10, 2010 |
| Source | www.ohscanada.com |
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