reports from council
This approach would eliminate the list of specific acts
that trigger mandatory revocation and would treat all
physical sexual contact between a doctor and a patient
as a fundamental breach of a physician’s obligation to
patients that requires revocation.
It also means that a wider range of conduct will be
caught under mandatory revocation and, as such, the
minimum five-year period prior to a reinstatement application may not be appropriate in all cases. Council,
therefore, is recommending that the Discipline Committee have the power to specify a period between one and
five years before a physician can apply for reinstatement
following a revocation for sexual abuse or other professional misconduct of a sexual nature.
Please see our articles, beginning on page 19.
Approved by-laws will bring greater
transparency to public register
The College is committed to providing easily understandable information about physicians that will help patients
make informed choices and enhance our accountability
to the public.
At its meeting, Council approved new by-laws to post a
range of additional information on the public register:
• Criminal charges
• Cautions-in-person
• pecified Continuing Education or Remediation
S
Program (SCERP) orders
• icences – other jurisdictions
L
• iscipline findings – other jurisdictions
D
“These by-laws represent an important and fundamental change for both the public and the medical profession,” says Dr. Carol Leet. “As such, CPSO Council took
a deliberately principled approach, carefully considering
transparency and fairness,” she said.
Please see the articles, beginning on page 27.
Consent to Treatment Policy Approved
Council approved the revised Consent to Treatment
policy. The policy articulates the obligations codified in
the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 (HCCA), as well as
professional expectations set out by the College. The policy
emphasizes that consent is a process that involves a dialogue between the physician and the patient or substitute
14
Dialogue Issue 2, 2015
decision-maker; not simply a piece of paper to be signed.
Some revisions and additions had been made to the
policy directly in response to feedback received during
our consultation process. These include: adding a principle regarding respect for patient autonomy; stating that
physicians have a legal obligation to ensure substitute decision makers understand the substitute decision-making
requirements set out in the HCCA; and a recommendation that physicians document the risks of not treating
the condition discussed with the patient, especially if the
patient refuses the treatment that the doctor thinks is
clinically indicated. Please see the article on page 39.
Physician Treatment of Self, Family Members
or Others Close to Them
The draft policy Physician Treatment of Self, Family
Members, or Others Close to Them was approved by
Council for release for external consultation. The revised
draft policy maintains the central position of its pred X