Manitoba lags behind in doctor discipline transparency, expert says

An expert in sexual abuse of patients says Manitoba needs more transparency when it comes todisciplining physicians, in order to improve patient safety.

Marilou McPhedran, a lawyer and professorat the University of Winnipeg,has harsh words for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba when comparing it to other regulatory bodies across Canada.

"I would say that it ranks among the least transparent the least amount of information that is available to patients and to the public," McPhedran said, referring to theinformation patients can see about their doctors on college websites.

A CBC News investigation found other medical colleges post information that Manitoba's does not, including the names of doctors in upcoming discipline hearings and the allegations they face.

• 64 Manitoba doctors disciplined over 15 years

In Manitoba, discipline decisions in a physician's online profile cover the past 10 years, whereas Saskatchewan posts information going back 16 years and Ontario's online records stretch back to the 1980s.

Ontario also posts information about doctors facing criminal charges and bail conditions, whereas Manitoba does not.

The CPSM declined an interview request, but registrar Dr. Anna Ziomek explained by emailthatthe college follows the requirements of the provincial government underthe Medical Act when determining what information can be made public.

McPhedran said the province is ultimately responsible for the rules around transparency.

"I think not only can questions be asked of the college but questions need to be asked of the government of Manitoba as well," McPhedran said.

"Colleges are creatures of governments. They can't exist unless governments pass laws that delegate the government's responsibility for public and patient safety. And so the transparency requirements have to come from the governments."

Health minister trusts college

Health Minister Sharon Blady declined to say what other types of physician discipline information she would like to see made public in this province.

"I trust the college. We have a very good working relationship, and I know they're always trying to strike a balance between making sure that, again, the best care is provided and the most relevant information is out there to patients," Blady said.

The amount of physician discipline information available to Manitobans might change under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA), whichthe NDP government introduced in 2009.

The bill was meant to bring 22 health professions under onepiece of governing legislation,but the province says so far only audiologists and speech language pathologists are governed under it.

Work is underway to develop regulations with doctors, nurses and otherhealth professionals.

"This RHPA process has been a lot longer than I think a lot of folks anticipated," Blady said.

"I'm not going to promise any kind of timelines because what we're finding with this is it's a learning experience for each of the professions."

She added, "Once everyone is under the act,it is going to be a lot easier to have the consistency, the transparency."

Former health minister Theresa Oswald, who introduced the RHPA bill in 2009, said she's concerned the newlaw is not yet in force for most health professions. She said transparency was a priority in her discussions with the regulatory colleges.

"We had a conversation about that fact that times were going to have to change and that more and more transparency was going to have to become the norm, not less," Oswald said.

Ziomek said transparency is one of the college's values and it will be considered as the CPSM plans for the province's new regulations.

A CBC News investigation has found 64 Manitoba doctors have been subject to formal discipline the college made public over the past 15 years, including seven for inappropriate behaviour with patients.

Upcoming discipline hearings

Although there are currently two disciplinary hearings scheduled for Manitoba doctors one forApril 18 and another for May 24 Ziomek said the Medical Act prevents her from naming those doctors.

The college received 184 formal complaints in the year that ended April 2015 and 158 complaints in the previous year. The majority of complaints were in the category of diagnosis and treatment.

The numbers discourage me, the numbers infuriate me, but they don't surprise me.- Marilou McPhedran

In examining 15 years of records from the physician regulatory bodies across the country, CBC News found there were at least 250 cases of discipline for inappropriate conduct towards patients, and of those, 28 were cited more than once for such inappropriate behaviour.

"The numbers discourage me, the numbers infuriate me, but they don't surprise me," said McPhedran.

She said Canada needs better tracking of physician discipline across the country. In 1991,an Ontario task force that she led recommended a national database of discipline.

"We're sitting here in 2016 25 years later and we still don't have an accessible, thorough, well-maintained national database," she said.

McPhedran said a national database is important for consistency and transparency because doctors and patients sometimes relocate from one province to another.

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