(March 9, 2023)<\/p>\n
By: Allison Jones and Liam Casey,\u00a0The Canadian Press<\/span><\/p>\n Ontario\u00a0is considering expanding the scope of what certain health professionals, such as nurses, can do in periods of \u201chigh patient volumes.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Health Minister\u00a0Sylvia Jones\u00a0said in a statement that the government has already recently expanded the scope of practice for pharmacists, allowing them to prescribe for certain conditions, and allowing nurse practitioners to order MRI and CT scans, and now the government is looking to give more professionals more powers.<\/p>\n \u201cOur government\u2019s Your Health act, if passed, will increase staffing levels on a short term basis to manage periods of high patient volume by allowing health care professionals to work outside of their regular responsibilities,\u201d Hannah Jensen wrote.<\/p>\n She did not offer information on how \u201cshort term basis\u201d or periods of \u201chigh patient volume\u201d will be defined.<\/p>\n The ministry is looking at giving registered nurses prescribing powers, allowing nurse practitioners to order and apply defibrillation and apply ECGs, allowing pharmacists to administer \u201ccertain substances\u201d by injection or inhalation, and allowing chiropodists, midwives, naturopaths and optometrists to prescribe more drugs, among other expansions, Jensen said.<\/p>\n \u201cMaximizing professional scopes to increase flexibility is a lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and a key part in building a healthcare system that is easier to navigate and provides Ontarians with access to faster, more convenient care, when and where they need it,\u201d she said in the statement.<\/p>\n Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses\u2019 Association of\u00a0Ontario, said prescribing powers for registered nurses would be great news, as her association has been pushing for it for more than 10 years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will transform primary care overnight\u201d by taking pressures off the rest of the system, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe welcome the change.\u201d<\/p>\n A key aim of the legislation is to allow more private clinics to offer certain publicly funded surgeries and procedures, in a bid to lower wait times, though critics are concerned about the expansion of private delivery of public health care.<\/p>\n The NDP and the\u00a0Ontario\u00a0Health Coalition advocacy group raised concerns Thursday about language in the health bill they say could deregulate certain health professions and allow people to call themselves doctors and nurses, even if not necessarily qualified.<\/p>\n