In November 2013, OTLA submitted recommendations on the Draft Transparency Principles, proposed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO). In the submission, OTLA expressed the importance of patient safety:
“OTLA feels that the overriding concern in establishing and applying these transparency principles must be, first and foremost, the protection of the public and disclosure of information, not the protection of the physician’s privacy.”
Medical malpractice lawyer and OTLA Past President Paul Harte contributed to two articles recently published in the Toronto Star. Both articles address Ontario hospitals’ desire to be informed when their health professionals have been the subject of complaints. The current system requires these health professionals to self-disclose when their college responds to complaints with a finding of guilt and when disciplinary or punitive action take place. The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), a group representing 145 hospital corporations across the province, believes that hospitals have a right to “know about complaints even before findings have been made.”
The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association feels that all complaints and findings should be made public on the regulatory colleges’ websites in order to ensure transparency and accountability.
You can read each of the articles here:
Medical watchdog issues secret oral caution to Humber River chief of staff
Theresa Boyle for the Toronto Star – July 27, 2014
Hospitals want to know about all complaints against MDs, nurses
Theresa Boyle for the Toronto Star – July 29, 2014
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