More Information about Physicians Now Available to the Public
At its most recent meeting held on May 28 & 29, 2015, the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (the “College”) passed by-law amendments which require the College to post the following additional information about physicians on the public register:
cautions-in-person ordered by the College’s Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (“ICRC”);
specified continuing education or remediation programs (“SCERP”) that the ICRC requires a member to complete;
criminal charges;
discipline findings in other jurisdictions; and
licences in other jurisdictions.
These changes mark the completion of Phase Two of the College’s ongoing transparency initiative, which began in 2012 when it joined up with five other regulatory colleges to form the Advisory Group for Regulatory Excellence. Back in December 2014, the College passed Phase One by-law amendments that allow findings of guilt made against physicians under the Criminal Code and Health Insurance Act as of June 1, 2015, and bail conditions that affect a physician’s practice, to be posted on the College’s public register.Cautions-in-person and SCERPsNow that the by-law amendments have been passed, any caution-in-person or SCERP ordered by the ICRC for complaints received on or after January 1, 2015 will be posted on the public register. For ICRC decisions that did not arise as a result of a complaint, information about cautions and SCERPs will be made available where the appointment of investigators to the file is dated on or after January 1, 2015. The specific information to be posted on the public register will include:
a summary of the ICRC’s decision to order a caution or a SCERP, including the elements of the SCERP; and
if applicable, a notation that the decision has been appealed.
As the by-law currently stands, cautions-in-person and SCERPs will remain on the public register unless the ICRC’s decision is overturned on appeal or review. A notation will be made, however, when all of the elements of the SCERP have been completed by the physician.No Automatic Removal of Information from Register…yetWhile the by-law amendments were being circulated for consultation, advocates for physicians raised the concern that the by-laws were silent as to when such information could be removed from the public register. Section 23(7) of the Health Professions Procedural Code, which is Schedule 2 to the Regulated Health Professions Act, permits physicians to request that the Registrar remove information where it is “obsolete” or “no longer relevant to their suitability to practice”. This is a fairly high threshold, however, and few requests are granted.The College considered an automatic removal provision when the Phase Two by-laws were drafted, but this option was rejected. This is in contrast to a few other Colleges which have included an automatic removal provision. For example, the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario’s by-law provides that an oral caution will automatically be removed from the public register two (2) years after it has been delivered. The Executive Committee has directed College staff to conduct further analysis on this issue and indicated that the proposal for a removal provision will return to a future meeting of Council for further consideration.Criminal ChargesIn the event that a physician has been charged with an offence under the Criminal Code or the Health Insurance Act, all outstanding charges that are known to the College will now be made available on the public register. The information posted will include the fact that a charge has been made, the content of the charge, and the date and location of the charge. The College has indicated that the use of the term “outstanding” means that those criminal charges that have been resolved, for example, by way of an acquittal or a criminal finding, will not be posted or, if already made available, will be removed.Licences and Discipline Findings in Other JurisdictionsAs a result of the by-law amendments, the College will soon be posting the fact that a physician is registered or licenced to practice medicine in another jurisdiction. Specifically, those licenses or registrations that are known to the College as of September 1, 2015 will be made known to the public as well.The by-law amendments also permit the College to post disciplinary findings that are made against a member by another regulatory or licensing authority on or after September 1, 2015. In addition to the fact that a disciplinary finding exists, the information to be posted on the public register includes the date the finding was made and the jurisdiction in which it was made, the date the College was notified of the finding, and the existence and status of any appeal of the finding.Charges and Convictions under the Personal Health Information and Protection Act?The materials for the May 2015 Council meeting indicate that during the consultation period of the by-law amendments, the Information and Privacy Commissioner (“IPC”) requested that charges and convictions for offences under the Personal Health Information Protection Act be posted on the public register. In order to accede to the IPC’s request, the by-laws would have to be amended, which would in turn require another public consultation period for the proposed changes. The Executive Committee has indicated that consideration of this proposal be deferred to a future Council meeting.ConclusionThese changes will have a significant impact on the way the College operates and on all physicians who are subject to a College complaint or investigation. Physicians facing criminal charges or discipline proceedings before another regulatory body will also want to consider the impact of these by-law changes when considering the resolution of those proceedings.For more information regarding these changes and how they may affect you, please contact us
