CPSO’s Board of Directors has approved targeted updates to the Delegation of Controlled Acts policy in response to feedback from system partners, which sought to clarify the requirement that the physician assess a new patient prior to delegating a controlled act or, where this is not possible, within two business days.

Specifically, the updates: 

• clarify that in situations where the physician cannot assess a new patient before delegating, the physician must assess the patient within two business days of the delegate initiating a controlled act, rather than within two business days of the delegate's first encounter with the patient 
• expand the exception to the clinical assessment requirement to include all care provided in hospitals, rather than only in emergency departments

Together, these targeted updates address important system partner feedback in two ways. First, it clarifies that the clinical assessment requirement does not apply where a delegate performs tasks that are not controlled acts (e.g., taking a patient history or conducting a physical examination). Second, it supports access to care—without compromising patient safety—in hospital settings, where significant additional safeguards and clinical oversight are already in place.