(Quebec) Sonia LeBel dusts off the Professional Code: health professionals, such as nurses and psychologists, will now be able to make a mental health diagnosis and pharmacists will have more powers to prescribe and extend prescriptions.
The President of the Treasury Board Sonia LeBel tabled a bill on Tuesday at the Salon Bleu aimed at modifying the Professional Code for the modernization of the professional system and the expansion of certain professional practices in the field of health and social services.
The legislative text notably gives more powers to pharmacists. Bill 67 reviews the scope of practice of pharmacists and the activities reserved for them, including prescribing medications and extending prescriptions. It also gives the board of directors of the Order of Pharmacists of Quebec the power to regulate certain activities by regulation.
The bill also expands the pool of health professionals who can make a mental health diagnosis. The legislation plans to amend the Nurses Act to allow nurses to “diagnose mental disorders, other than intellectual disabilities.”
Ms. Lebel’s bill also makes the Professional Code more flexible. In particular, it allows the issuance of special authorization in emergency situations to carry out professional activities, such as during the pandemic when retired nurses obtained special permits to vaccinate. The legislative text also allows orders to implement pilot projects.
Minister LeBel’s bill is the first milestone in a broader project launched a year ago. Sonia LeBel consulted the 46 professional orders to establish possible solutions to make them more flexible. The objective is also to adjust to today’s realities when the professional system has not been reviewed in depth for 50 years.
His plan was then divided into three parts:
Her intention is to give the necessary powers to the Office of Professions so that “it can fully fulfill its role as protector” of the public and offer professional orders “greater regulatory flexibility,” she explained in an interview with La Presse. , this autumn.
“I want to be able to identify quick wins with them. Are there any legislative changes I can make to allow them to be more agile in their role? », she illustrated.
In 2020, the Legault government legislated to give pharmacists the power to prescribe certain medications in emergency situations and administer vaccines. The bill was adopted at full speed as the first wave of the pandemic swept through Quebec. A second piece of legislation also had the same objective, but for specialist nurse practitioners (IPS).