mandatory reports
Reporting policy for guidance. The policy is available on the College’ s website at www. cpso. on. ca.
5. If I don’ t know the name of the regulated health professional who has allegedly abused the patient, do I have to make a report to the College? No. Under the RHPA, if you do not know the name of the regulated health professional who would be the subject of the report, you are not required to file a report. You may wish to follow up with the person who provided you with the information to find out as much information as possible, and to encourage them to disclose the name of the regulated health professional. There may be numerous reasons for a patient’ s reluctance to reveal the name of the regulated health professional. This may include uncertainty about a college’ s investigatory and complaints process and what will be involved once the report is submitted. With respect to complaints of sexual abuse by physicians, the College has produced a brochure that provides information on the process of making a sexual abuse complaint and the investigation which the College will undertake. Reviewing information with the patient may help to put him or her at ease. The fact sheet is available on the College’ s website.
6. Do I need the patient’ s consent in order to make the report? No, the consent of the patient who may have been sexually abused is not required in order to make a report to the relevant college. However, you do need the written consent of the patient( or the consent of the patient’ s representative) if disclosing his or her name as part of the report.
7. If another person or the patient has already reported the suspected sexual abuse to the relevant college, do I still have to make a report? Yes. Even if you believe or are aware that the suspected abuse has been reported to the applicable college by another person or institution, this does not discharge your obligation to make a report. You may have information that another reporter does not have. Additionally, this will ensure that a report does in fact get filed with respect to the regulated health professional in question.
8. If the patient has retracted his or her allegation of sexual abuse, do I still have to make a report? Your duty to report arises when you have reasonable grounds to believe another regulated health professional has sexually abused a patient. If your belief was triggered by information provided by a patient who then retracts the allegation, the question is whether you still have reasonable grounds to believe the abuse occurred. In some cases, you will no longer have reasonable grounds to believe the abuse occurred. However, since there are many reasons that a patient who has been sexually abused by a health professional may retract an allegation, in some circumstances, you may still reasonably believe the abuse occurred. In those cases, you must still make a report to the appropriate college. MD
Need more information? Read our Mandatory and Permissive Reporting policy for guidance. The policy is available on the College’ s website at www. cpso. on. ca
For more information, please phone our Physician Advisory Service at 416-967-2606 or toll-free 1-800-268- 7096, Ext. 606.
Issue 4, 2016 Dialogue 39