petition against the cdho QA program (amended)

This is a slight amendment to the original petition. CE hours have changed The coalition of Dental Hygienists in Ontario, petitioning for an amendment to the submission of the professional portfolio as per CDHO’s quality assurance program, would like to make a few amendments to the original petition. We would like to clarify that we do need a QA but we want the CDHO to change the way the program is set up. We tried to keep the first petition brief but due to the overwhelming inquiries from many RDHs, we will go into more detail and list the differences between the CDHO’s QA program and the QA programs of the other provinces. As well, list the differences between the QA from the RCDSO and the CDHO. We hope that after reading this information you can all make a well informed decision. We are also going to break down the letter we have all received from the CDHO. We would like to take the time to thank the CDHO for their mass e-mail, because it has brought more awareness of the petition to all RDHs in Ontario. On our first petition, we mentioned the change we would like to see in our current QA program from the 3 year portfolio to the 60 CE points. We want to change the 60 CE points to 45 CE points every 3 years. This will match the requirements our colleagues in 6 other provinces. These provinces include B.C. (allows LA), Alberta (allows LA), Saskatchewan, Manitoba (allows LA), Nova Scotia (allows LA) and Quebec. There are going to be a few changes to the B.C. QA program for 2013. RDHs will have to complete 45 CE hours and also complete an online test/module to be sure they are up-to-date with their DH practice. This online module will be done every 5 years. Alberta has 2 parts to their QA program. Part 1, RDHs need to complete 45 CE hours every 3 years. Part 2, RDHs need to be working for at least 600 hours during those 3 years. All of the other provinces allow members to include their CPR and the office lunch and learns to count for CE points. Nova Scotia has just increased the number of points for the full CPR training to 9 points. Ontario has made many changes to our QA program. We need to collect 25 CQI activity hours per year (Recall 80% of those 25hrs need to be related to your goal and 20% non-goal related). These CQI activities do not include CPR or lunch and learns. There are some fantastic lunch and learns such as Periowave, Vizilite, Velscope, Oraqix and new sterilization products. These are all very pertinent to our profession and care for our clients, so why is it that the CDHO does not allow them? It’s very perplexing. New CDHO standards of practice include taking BP of clients, writing down that we have received verbal consent (even though implied consent is quite ok), writing down that we have followed proper infection control protocol Are we not going to do what we have been taught and learned previously. Making us write it done doesn’t make us do it any better than what we have already been doing. As well RDHs need to do spore testing once a day. Now let’s compare these standards to those of the RCDSO (the reason we are comparing it to the RCDSO is that the majority of RDHs work for a DDS and our standards have a direct impact on the DDS). Dentists only have to take BP when the procedure is invasive. Dentists work on an implied consent, the client showed up therefore they have consented to treatment. There is no way, that if a client didn’t want the work done that they would show up in the first place or for that matter make the appointment. Dentists need to do spore testing once a week. Since DDS have to do spore testing once a week and RDHs have to do it once a day, does that mean RDHs have to pay for it out of pocket if the dentist they work for won’t pay? CDHOs answer to the spore testing issue “you know the DH standards follow them! this is why they are STANDARDS and not GUIDELINES”. All Health Professionals that work under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) are expected to have and follow a QA program. The RHPA states that there needs to be a QA program in place but it doesn’t state to what degree. The CDHO has taken it to a whole other level; they feel that the QA program they have designed makes us “the best we can be”. Well, we are sure that you were all great RDHs before they implemented these rules and standards, in fact these rules and standards probably make you feel negatively towards the CDHO. The recent CDHO’s letter sent to all RDHs mentioned the reference to Bill 171 and how this bill reflects the recommendations made by the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council (HPRAC) and how “the CDHO has endeavored to comply fully with both the spirit and the letter of our legislative requirements…evaluates the QA Program to ensure that it always fulfills the regulatory obligations of the College”. We suggest you read bill171 by using the link below and see for yourselves that this Bill only discuses our scope of practice and says nothing about a QA program. http://www.ontla.on.ca/bills/bills-files/38_Parliament/Session2/b171.pdf The CDHO’s letter also mentions that their QA program holds us to a higher standard; A higher standard than WHOM? Our scope of practice is less than that of a number of other provinces since they are able to give local anesthetic so why are we held to a “higher standard”. Our scope of practice is much less than that of the DDS as well as Physicians, try telling them that we have a higher standard than they do, because we have a ridiculous QA program. We keep bringing up Physicians since they are also under the RHPA; they perform surgery, administer drugs and save lives. Have you ever had a Physician or a nurse ask you for verbal consent to do some of the things they do in their offices? For what Physicians do, which is considerable, they only collect CE points. Nurses have a portfolio; they collect CE points but their CPR, First Aid and courses taken at the hospital all count. They also have to do a written essay on a topic given to them by their governing body. They then gather all information and put it together in a folder and that constitutes their portfolio. We all take our profession seriously! If we do 45 CE points every 3 years, will our professional standards to our clients diminish? We don’t think so, since our practice standards have always remained the same without the unreasonable CDHO’s standards. Our focus is to our clients first and foremost, always has and always will be! The CDHO is actually wasting our precious CE hours by making the portfolio so complex. We are wasting our time going to the courses they accept instead of focusing on more relevant courses to us. Some of us only have a certain amount of time to spend doing CE hours and want to make the most of them. Portfolio hours don’t allow us to go to courses more relevant to our work. How can the CDHO decide if what we choose to learn is acceptable? You now have all the information to make a well informed decision. If you have any questions please contact us at petitioncdho@rogers.com We will be happy to answer all of your questions. Remember it only takes a few people to start something but it takes many to make changes!!! We suggest you familiarize yourselves with the Dental Hygiene Act, 1991 go to section IV Quality Assurance http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_940218_e.htm#BK6 Please feel free to review the other Dental Hygiene Regulatory bodies’ QA. www.cdhbc.com www.crdha.ca www.cdhm.info www.cdhns.ca Only RDHs sign this petition. Please don’t use a nickname!!!! You can sign either list. If you want to have your name completely anonymous, not on the list for all to see, then please just send us an email with your full name so that we can add it to the letter we will be sending to the CDHO and HPRAC. Thank you