Professional Performance and Responsibility Standard

    The public can expect that a licensed healthcare professional will recognize and work within the boundaries of their professional role, legal scope of practice, and personal competence; that they will take appropriate steps, such as consulting, referring, or declining to provide care, when patient needs exceed their expertise; that they will make decisions that reflect sound professional judgment and take responsibility for the quality and safety of the care they provide; and that they will take action if their own or a colleague’s ability to practise safely is compromised.

    This Practice Standard applies to all licensed healthcare professionals across all areas of practice.

    A licensee must:

    1. Practise within the bounds of their scope of practice (and certification, if applicable), which means to:

      1. Provide only those health services they are authorized and competent to perform under the HPOA, Regulations, and CHCPBC Bylaws. 
      2. Perform restricted activities only when authorized to do so under the HPOA, Regulations, and CHCPBC Bylaws, and in conformance with the limits and conditions on that authorization.
      3. Recognize when a patient’s healthcare needs exceed the licensee’s competence or qualifications and take appropriate steps to ensure the patient receives competent services, such as by making a referral, obtaining additional training, or collaborating with other healthcare providers. 
      4. Meet specific practice requirements if they are an optician or optometrist, as set out in the appendices of the Restricted Activities and Certifications Standard.
      5. Maintain objectivity in the provision of health services by basing professional judgments on evidence, best practice, and the needs and preferences of the affected individual(s), rather than on personal beliefs, interests, or relationships.

    1. Monitor capacity to practise, which means to: 
      1. Monitor their own physical, mental, and emotional health to ensure they are able to perform all aspects of their practice competently, safely, ethically, and effectively. 
      2. Address circumstances that may impair their professional practice—such as illness, injury, stress, or substance use—by taking action, such as seeking medical assistance or support, taking a leave from practice, and/or adjusting workload.
      3. Refrain from practising when they are unable to do so competently, safely, or ethically. 
      4. Take appropriate action to protect patients where there are indicators that another healthcare professional in the workplace may be impaired, unwell, or unable to practise safely.
      5. Report to CHCPBC if they believe that another licensee:
        1. Is not fit to practise, and that their continued practice presents a significant risk of harm to the public.
        2. Has committed an act of sexual misconduct or abuse.
        3. Has committed an act of discrimination.

    1. Be accountable, which means to:
      1. Accept responsibility for the health services provided in their practice.
      2. Ensure they comply with the licensure and other regulatory requirements of the jurisdiction in which a patient is located, including when providing health services to a patient in another Canadian jurisdiction.
      3. Provide results of assessments and reports within a reasonable time.

    1. Ensure professionalism in financial and commercial practices, which means to:
      1. Charge clear and reasonable fees for services and reports.
      2. Charge fair market value for products.
      3. Ensure, when selling products, that:
        1. The products meet reasonable standards of quality and efficacy.
        2. Available alternatives and comparable options are disclosed to support informed decision making. 
        3. Patients are told they have no obligation to purchase recommended products or services. 

    1. Ensure honest, reliable, and transparent billing practices, which means to:
      1. Maintain accurate and complete billing records for the health products and health services they provide.
      2. Ensure there is no mischaracterization of the nature of health products or health services on invoices or receipts. 
      3. Ensure that they only bill for health services they have delivered under their own name and licence number, and take reasonable steps to prevent others from using their licence number for billing purposes.
      4. Promptly correct any billing errors in a transparent manner.

    Glossary

    Accountable: being responsible and answerable for one’s professional conduct, including off-duty conduct that has a sufficient connection to the profession.

    Evidence: reliable and relevant information used to inform professional judgment or decision making. This may include research findings, clinical or professional experience, practice data, expert consensus, or Indigenous or community knowledge systems recognized within their cultural context.

    Health service: any service or activity provided by a licensee in relation to healthcare, including collecting information; assessing, diagnosing, preventing, monitoring, treating, or managing a person’s health or health-related condition; or providing health-related information to an individual or the public, whether or not treatment is provided.

    Patient: a person to whom health services are provided. Throughout the Ethics and Practice Standards, “patient” includes substitute decision-makers, parents, and guardians where applicable.

    Record: includes patient information, books, documents, drawings, photographs, letters, vouchers, papers, and any other thing on which information is recorded or stored by graphic, electronic, mechanical, or other means, but does not include a computer program or any other mechanism that produces records.

    Restricted activity: an activity that is performed in the course of providing a health service and is prescribed by the Minister as a restricted activity.

    Related standards and legislation

    Health Professions and Occupations Act, SBC 2022, c 43