Members of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario (the College) are regulated healthcare practitioners. That means you have a legal duty to report certain information about yourself and your practice to the College.
In some situations, you have a duty to report other regulated health practitioners to their professional colleges. There are also situations where you have a duty to report colleagues or others to an appropriate authority.
This is called mandatory reporting. By doing your duty to report, you help the College to meet its mandate to protect the public. You also help to maintain the integrity of the profession.
If you fail to make a mandatory report, it can result in findings of professional misconduct. The College’s Discipline Committee deals with such issues.
When you make a report in good faith, the law protects you from libel actions. However, mandatory reports are not confidential. Your identity may be disclosed to the person you reported.
The following are some examples of what you must report. Review the Jurisprudence Handbook for more examples. If you have questions, please contact the College.
If you have reason to believe that another regulated health practitioner has sexually abused a patient, you must file a written report to the Registrar of the college that regulates them.
If there is any danger that the abuse could continue, make your report right away. In all cases, report within 30 days of becoming aware of the abuse. The report must include:
Do not report the patient’s name unless the patient agrees in writing that their name can be included. You must make a reasonable effort to tell the patient that it is your duty to make the report as a regulated health practitioner.
Incompetence means that a person lacks the skills and knowledge to do their job and may be unfit to practise. It is defined in s.52 of the Health Profession Procedural Code.
Incapacity means that a person has a physical or mental condition that may cause them to be unfit to practise. It is defined in s.1(1) of the Health Profession Procedural Code.
You have a duty to report if you have reason to believe that another health care practitioner may have engaged in professional misconduct because of incompetence or incapacity. You must report them to the college that regulates them when:
In all of these situations, you must also report if the practitioner quits or restricts their practice, either voluntarily or as a result of a workplace investigation into incompetence or incapacity.
In all cases, your report to the Registrar of the College that regulates the practitioner must be in writing. The report must include:
If you have any reason to believe that the health care practitioner could cause harm to patients, report right away. In all cases, report within 30 days of becoming aware of the problem.
In the course of your practice, if you have reason to believe that any person is likely to cause severe bodily harm to themselves or someone else, you must warn the appropriate authorities, such as the police. The law permits you to disclose personal health information to prevent serious harm.
You must report any real or potential child abuse you encounter in the course of your practice. Report to a Children’s Aid Society (CAS) if you have reason to believe that:
You must report any harm or risk of harm (this could take on the form of abuse and/or neglect, etc.) to an elder. This rule applies when your practice involves residents of a long-term care, nursing, or retirement home. Report the information right away to the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority.