Please send the email to the Premier Doug Ford and the Minister of Health Sylvia Jones and her Chief of Staff Vijay Chauhan please cc your member of Provincial Parliament as well
1- Premier@ontario.ca
2- sylvia.jones@ontario.ca
3- Vijay.chauhan@ontario.ca
Find your Member of the provincial parliament here:
https://www.ola.org/en/
I urge you to copy this email below and paste it into an email addresses to you local member of provincial parliament or see attached letter.
Dear Premier Ford and Minister Sylvia Jones,
As a dedicated healthcare professional and Physiotherapist, we can improve patient care, save money and improve healthcare by cutting red tape that is stopping physiotherapists from ordering X-Rays and Ultrasounds. Since 2009 red tape has delayed the full implementation of Bill 179. Passed in 2009, this bill allows Physiotherapists to order X-rays and laboratory tests, yet administrative red tape has prevented these changes from being enacted.
We have allowed other healthcare professionals to operate at their full level of education such as pharmacists and it’s time to finish what was started in 2009 for physiotherapists.
Physiotherapists are fully trained and can determine when a patient requires an X-ray. Requiring patients to see a physician solely for an X-ray order is duplicative, increases healthcare costs, and forces those without family doctors to visit overcrowded emergency rooms. This long-overdue legislative change was supposed to happen in 2009, but red tape and bureaucracy have delayed it.
Our profession still awaits the enactment of regulations to activate legislation that was passed in 2009 and proclaimed in 2018. Specifically, the two changes are:
1. Ordering diagnostic imaging: The requisite amendments to the Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act were passed by the Ontario Legislature in December 2009 and were proclaimed into force and effect on April 1, 2018. What is still needed is the final enabling regulation change under the Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act.
2. Ordering laboratory tests: No statutory amendments are required. What is still needed are regulation amendments under the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act. These regulation amendments were endorsed by the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council and promised in 2009 as part of the larger package of scope of practice changes for the profession.
Both healthcare regulators and the Physiotherapy Association have sent numerous letters to the government about this. It is time to cut through the bureaucracy and allow Physiotherapists, like pharmacists recently, to operate at their full educational abilities. Ordering X-rays and diagnostic tests is part of our training.
Implementing this change will improve patient care, reduce wait times, and decrease healthcare costs. I urge you to take action to ensure the full implementation of Bill 179 without further delay.
Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your voice is powerful and necessary to bring about this change. By taking a few moments to send this letter, you can ensure that we, as Physiotherapists, can fully utilize our skills to improve healthcare for all Ontarians.
Together, we can make a significant difference. Thank you for your support and dedication to advancing patient care.
Sincerely, Bahram Jam.