Sexual abuse initiative
College
to scrutinize
use of GBRs
more closely
Gender-based restrictions
found to be a useful tool
in certain circumstances
ouncil has adopted a more
rigorous approach to the
use of gender-based restrictions on a physician’s practice.
This is intended to ensure a heightened scrutiny of the appropriateness of such restrictions in a particular matter.
Whenever a gender-based restriction is
under consideration, Council has endorsed a
set of factors to be uniformly applied to guide
this analysis.
Gender-based restrictions (GBRs), both
chaperones and absolute restrictions, have
been used by the College as a means of
protecting patients when a physician is either
alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct or has been found to have done so.
30
Dialogue Issue 3, 2015
The presumption has been that where
a physician is alleged to have engaged
in sexual misconduct with a patient of one
gender, either preventing future contact with
patients of that gender or requiring that all
future contact be supervised will help protect
patients from harm.
These restrictions are often imposed by
other bodies as well – such as other health
regulatory colleges and the criminal courts.
After an analysis of the issue, Council
directed that a set of factors be used to guide
any decision to accept or order GBRs on a
physician’s certificate.
These factors would include careful consideration of the powers available to the College
at that particular stage of the proceeding, the
photo: gettyimages
C
Processes
& Practices