Health Care Assistant Regulation Questionnaire

The Health Professions and Occupations Regulatory Oversight Office (the Oversight Office) is seeking information from people in B.C. about health care assistants. The feedback collected will help assess if health care assistants should be regulated in B.C.

Health care assistants in B.C. use different job titles such as care aide, community health worker, and resident care attendant. They provide services like personal care, medication assistance and meal support.

The engagement will focus on the risks related to the work of health care assistants, where they see patients, how they work, and the types of harm that could occur when care is delivered. It will also focus on how health care assistants are currently overseen, and the potential impacts of regulation under B.C. health law.

An initial review conducted by the Oversight Office found that health care assistants provide health services that have the potential to cause harm to patients and the public if not performed appropriately. As a result, the Oversight Office started a designation assessment on whether or not it is recommended the province regulate health care assistants. This engagement opportunity is part of the assessment. More information about this can be found here.

Voluntary registry

Health care assistants are not currently regulated under B.C. law. Instead, the current system for oversight is through a voluntary registry.

Only health care assistants who work in publicly funded health care organizations are required to join the registry. For those working in other settings, joining is voluntary. Other organizations can hire health care assistants who are not on the registry.

Health care assistants must complete an education program recognized by the registry to join it. The registry database is not publicly accessible. This means only health care employers can look up if a health care assistant is on the registry.

Reporting requirements

The registry has a role in receiving reports of alleged abuse and neglect. Publicly funded health care employers must report a health care assistant to the registry when they have suspended or terminated them because of alleged abuse or neglect. Other employers do not currently have to do this.

A health care assistant’s registration with the registry may be suspended when an alleged abuse or neglect report is made. The registry may remove them or undo the suspension after investigations and appeals. A health care assistant who is removed from the registry could still apply for jobs with employers who do not have to hire from the registry.

Learn more about the registry.

About health regulation

In B.C., health regulation means that a profession or occupation is regulated under the Health Professions and Occupations Act. Regulatory colleges oversee the people they regulate and help protect the public – they are not educational institutions.

If health care assistants were regulated under provincial law, they could be required to:

• Obtain a license to practice, regardless of their employer or work setting
• Pay a licensing fee
• Meet minimum practice and qualification standards (education, training, credentials)
• Have their name be listed on a publicly accessible online registry.

In addition, regulation could allow complaints to be made and investigated. The added cost to regulate could also make health care assistant services more expensive. Additionally, job titles like “health care assistant" could be restricted to only those who hold a valid license from the group that regulates them.

The feedback received from this engagement will help inform recommendations report on whether B.C. should regulate health care assistants under provincial law.