College Newsletter July 2020

Cultural Safety and Humility Report and Online CCP Sessions

Mother Earth’s Song, by Lekwungen artist, Darlene Gait

Cultural Safety and Humility Report

The first Cultural Safety and Humility progress report is now available to view online. BC Health Regulators and the First Nations Health Authority have taken unprecedented steps to develop an open, engaged, and transparent relationship.

Through ceremonies, educational events and the formation of a BCHR Cultural Safety and Humility Task Force, we have worked together to challenge the status quo and identify actions and efforts to improve the integration of culturally safe and humble practices within BC’s health profession regulatory framework.BCHR members continue to learn about Cultural Safety and Humility for First Nations and Aboriginal People in BC. This learning is not a one-time or check-off-the-list event; rather, it is “lifelong journey”. Staff, Board, and Committee members at BCHR member colleges have continued to benefit from the efforts of FNHA to support BCHR through sharing resources, providing educational opportunities, and offering counsel that bring the commitments identified in the Declaration to life.

Read the report
 

Duty to report on racism

On June 19, 2020, BC Health Minister Adrian Dix announced an investigation into disturbing allegations of racism in BC’s health system. BC Health Regulators (BCHR) members are united in declaring that any racist behaviour among regulated health professionals is unprofessional, harmful to patients, and unacceptable. It contravenes the professional conduct standards to which health professionals are held and constitutes a danger to the public.

Even though these allegations were made against emergency room staff, we are aware that behaviours of this kind are individual expressions of the systemic racism that exists within healthcare. We remind all registrants of the College of Opticians of British Columbia that under the Health Professions Act they have a duty to report a registrant (of any regulatory college) if, on reasonable and probable grounds, they believe that the continued practice of a designated health profession by the other person might constitute a danger to the public.

Read the full statement from BCHR here
 
 

Online CCP Learning Sessions

To help registrants better understand the Continuing Competency Program (CCP), we are pleased to announce we will be providing more information sessions, where we will take you through the program requirements. Given the physical distancing restrictions currently in place, we will be taking our workshops online. 

We have scheduled the next two sessions for the dates and times below:

  • Friday, July 17
    9:00am - 10:30am

Space for each session will be limited so you will need to RSVP if you are interested in joining. Please email Christopher Dodge to reserve a spot in one of the two sessions.

We will be scheduling further sessions in the coming months, and hope to have recorded versions available in the near future as well.
 

Reopening Survey

With many optical stores starting to re-open, it is important to ensure your employment information is up-to-date. 

If your business has experienced a closure or change in service provision during the COVID-19 pandemic, it might be necessary to update your public profile with the most up-to-date information. If you think this might apply to you, please fill out our COVID-19 Re-Opening Survey.

Complete the survey
 

COVID-19 resources

As BC begins to slowly open up and lockdown restrictions ease, many of our registrants are returning to work. We have consolidated all of the resources we have avaialbel to you on our COVID-19 resource page. Please refer to these resources if you have any questions about the best way to proceed at this time, and for guidance and information on how to return to work safely.
 

Did You Know?

The purpose of our complaints process is to provide an opportunity to learn. When we receive a complaint, our inquiry committee will determine if any standards or regulations were broken and provide guidance to those who have broken them. This often includes education. Any action taken is intended to provide an opportunity for growth and improvement to aid opticians in providing safe and competent patient care.

College of Opticians of BC operates on the traditional, ancestral and unceded Coast Salish territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Unsubscribing from this email will revoke your consent to receive email correspondance from us as outlined in Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We will no longer be able to send you important reminders pertaining to your license which may affect your registration with the College of Opticians of BC. Please contact us if you have any questions.