This information comes into effect as of June 4, 2009

The Discipline Process

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As part of its mandate to protect the public interest, the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC) may refer a matter involving a physiotherapist/physical therapist to the Discipline Committee for a hearing in cases where there are reasonable and probable grounds to suggest that professional misconduct has occurred or that a physiotherapist /physical therapist may be incompetent and such a referral is warranted.

The following are definitions for Professional Misconduct and Incompetence.

Professional Misconduct

A referral to the Discipline Committee for a hearing may occur when a physiotherapist:

• has been found guilty of an offence that is relevant to his or her suitability to practise;
• has been found guilty of professional conduct by a regulatory body outside of Ontario and the same act(s) would be considered professional misconduct in Ontario;
• fails to cooperate with the Quality Management Program or any of its assessors;
• has sexually abused a patient; or
• commits an act of professional misconduct as defined in the College's Professional Misconduct Regulation.

Incompetence

A referral to the Discipline Committee for a hearing may occur if a physiotherapist’s/physical therapist's professional care of a patient displayed a lack of knowledge, skill or judgment of a nature or to an extent that demonstrates that he or she is unfit to continue to practise or that his or her practice should be restricted.

The Discipline Process

The parties in a discipline proceeding are the College and the physiotherapist/physical therapist. The College is represented by its legal counsel, the prosecutor, while the physiotherapist is generally represented by his or her own lawyer, the defence counsel.

The College is required to provide the physiotherapist and his or her lawyer with all relevant information obtained by the College during the investigation including written and documentary evidence that will be introduced, the identity of any expert witnesses, summaries of the evidence they will give, and the identity of any other witnesses who will appear.

The College must disclose this information at least ten days before the hearing.

The Pre-Hearing Conference

After a case has been referred to the Discipline Committee, a first step may be to hold a pre-hearing conference. Both parties must agree to participate in this process. Through informal and unrecorded discussions, an attempt is made to determine if a settlement can be reached.

Any proposed settlement must be supported by the member of the Discipline Committee acting as chair during the pre-hearing conference. The agreement is then presented to a panel of the Discipline Committee, often in the form of an agreed statement of fact. The panel makes its decision in consideration of the terms of the settlement and whether it will protect the public. The panel is not bound by the recommendation made jointly by the counsel for the College and the physiotherapist and not all cases are resolved at the pre-hearing conference.

The Hearing

A hearing is a formal process, much like that of a court of law, conducted by a panel of the Discipline Committee.

A panel is composed of three to five members of the Discipline Committee, including at least two public members of the College Council. Generally panels at this College are composed of five persons: three physiotherapists and two public members.

At the hearing the panel will:

• consider the allegations, hear the evidence and determine the facts of the case;
• determine whether the evidence proves the allegations;
• determine whether the physiotherapist has committed an act of professional misconduct or is incompetent; and
• determine the penalty to be imposed where there is a finding of guilt or incompetence made.

Hearings are open to the public unless the panel believes the public should be excluded because of public security, public interest or public safety.

Testifying at a Discipline Hearing

The hearing commences with the prosecutor calling evidence in order to establish the College's case. The prosecutor will call witnesses who have relevant information about the allegations in question and will ask each witness a series of questions. This is known as examination-in-chief. The purpose of the questions is to elicit information that will be of assistance to the panel. The first questions identify the witness and establish his or her connection to the case. The questioning then proceeds to specific information about the incident(s) at issue in the hearing.

Once the prosecutor is finished asking questions of the witness, the defence counsel will ask a series of questions. This is known as cross-examination. The questions asked during the cross-examination might be more directive and wide ranging than those asked in the examination-in-chief. This is because it is the role of defence counsel to clarify information, test the witness' memory, and see if there are any contradictions in the witness' testimony.

Once the prosecutor has completed the presentation of the College's case, the defence counsel has the opportunity to present the case on behalf of the physiotherapist. The defence counsel will call witnesses in defence of the physiotherapist. The physiotherapist will likely testify on his or her own behalf. At this stage in the process, the defence counsel examines the witnesses in chief, while the prosecutor has an opportunity to cross-examine each of the witnesses.

After the Discipline Hearing

If the panel finds the physiotherapist guilty, the panel will hear submissions about penalty. The panel can order one or more of the following penalties:

• revocation of the physiotherapist’s certificate of registration;
• suspension of the physiotherapist’s certificate of registration;
• terms, limits or conditions on the physiotherapist’s certificate of registration;
• a fine (professional misconduct);
• requiring the physiotherapist to appear before the panel to be reprimanded (professional misconduct);
• require that the physiotherapist reimburse the College for monies provided to patients for counseling in sexual abuse cases and / or
• payment of the College's legal, investigation and hearing costs and expenses.

At the end of the entire process, the panel will issue its written decision and the reasons for their decision.

Appeals

The registrant and/or the College may appeal the decision of the panel to the Divisional Court of Ontario.

Reinstatement

A physiotherapist whose Certificate of Registration was revoked or suspended by a panel of the Discipline Committee for any finding except those related to sexual abuse of a patient may apply to the Registrar for reinstatement of the certificate one year after the date of which the Certificate was revoked or suspended or six months after an unsuccessful application for reinstatement.

If the revocation was ordered because of sexual abuse, the physiotherapist must wait five years after the date of revocation or six months after a previous unsuccessful application for reinstatement.

Publication of Decisions

The College is required to publish a summary of every discipline decision and the reasons for it or a summary in its annual report, and on the College's website which also includes the public register.

Discipline findings are available on the Public Register and on the College’s Website indefinitely. If the physiotherapist is found not guilty, his or her name will not be publicly available unless the physiotherapist requests publication. In certain situations, a physiotherapist may ask that the College remove this information from the Public Register and the College’s website. These requests must be considered by a panel of the Discipline Committee and can only occur if the penalty in a professional misconduct case was only a fine or a reprimand, and more than 6 years has passed since the finding was made.