Provide your Feedback on OHP Standards

Physicians meeting around a table

Consultation launched on modernized standards

Council has released for external consultation a redesigned and revised set of new draft standards for Out of Hospital Premises (OHPs).

The new draft standards are part of a larger effort to re-evaluate the College’s Out of Hospital Premises Inspection Program (OHPIP) with the intent to modernize and align the program with a right-touch regulation approach, and ensure the public interest is being effectively served.

The OHPIP enforces standards — called “Program Standards”— which outline the core requirements that must be met when performing specific procedures in OHPs. The Program Standards include details regarding the inspection regime and set out specific standards in relation to, for example, infection-prevention and control, quality assurance, and physical infrastructure.  

Internal and external feedback, however, has indicated that OHPIP’s Program Standards in their current form can be difficult to navigate and understand. This is due in part to their length and format, said Laurie Reid, CPSO’s Director of Investigations and Accreditation.

 “We needed to make the standards more clear, concise and useful,” said Ms. Reid. “We also wanted to support instead of supplant professional judgment, where appropriate, and to rely on existing guidelines, and the standard of care.”

“Physicians will note that the new draft streamlines and simplifies expectations”

The process of updating the draft standards has resulted in significant structural changes to the layout of the standards and how the expectations are articulated:

  • There has been a move away from one single long, dense and detailed document to a set of 10 separate, succinct, standalone documents that more clearly convey the expectations of OHPs and the members who work within them.
  • Substantive changes have been made to ensure the new standards are more principle-based and refer to existing external standards and guidelines, where appropriate. 
  • Companion Advice documents have also been developed for each of the standards to answer frequently asked questions, along with one general Advice document that captures details about the Program, the inspection process, and CPSO’s role.

While the draft standards retain many of the core expectations of the current standards, some significant revisions to the content of the standards have been made.

Perhaps most notably, the draft standards have been significantly revised in regard to managing patient care.

“The current standards are very clinical and extremely prescriptive. Physicians will note that the new draft streamlines and simplifies expectations by setting out principled expectations and pointing to existing clinical practice guidelines where they exist, including the CAS Guidelines, Peri-Anesthesia Nursing Standards and the Surgical Safety Checklist,” said Ms. Reid.

The draft standards also elevate and leverage the role of the Medical Director by more clearly articulating existing requirements and adding new requirements relating to both eligibility and responsibility.

“Given the important role of the Medical Director, and the fact that the quality of care in an OHP correlates with the quality of oversight and level of involvement of the Medical Director, it was felt that the new standard emphasizes Medical Directors’ accountability for the care provided within the OHP,” said Ms. Reid.

And in response to extensive internal and external feedback about the importance of patient selection with respect to procedures performed in an OHP, a new draft standard has been created to address this issue and highlight its importance.

To read more about the proposed changes and provide your input, please visit the consultation section of our website.