Five Ways Regulation Helps Instill Confidence in Health Professionals

How do you know if you’re receiving competent, safe and ethical care from a qualified health professional? Oftentimes we’ll search online and read reviews, or we’ll ask family and friends for recommendations. These are powerful resources, but there’s one more resource: The 26 colleges that regulate many health professionals working in Ontario.

While these organizations are called colleges, they are not schools. They are regulatory bodies that oversee more than 400,000 health professionals, from dentists to nurses, to dietitians and occupational therapists. These colleges hold regulated health professionals responsible for their conduct and practice, and this helps deliver an assurance of quality to you.

Here are five ways the colleges help protect your interests:

• They make sure that anyone wanting to practise a regulated health profession has met certain education and training requirements needed to provide safe care.

• The colleges set and enforce professional standards and guidelines.

• The colleges must have mandatory programs in place to help professionals maintain up-to-date knowledge and practices.

• They receive and investigate complaints from anyone who has concerns about the care/service they received from a regulated health professional.

• They restrict the use of titles like “massage therapist”, “dentist”, “midwife” or “chiropodist” to people who are registered with the college.

You can find the full list of regulated health professions at www.ontariohealthregulators.ca.

The ontariohealthregulators.ca website represents the 26 health regulatory colleges which collectively oversee more than 400,000 healthcare professionals in Ontario. Learn. Find. Get help. Be heard.