Employer Responsibilities under the RHPA
Mandatory Reporting
- Terminating or suspending employment
- 30 Days To Make A Mandatory Report
- Dissolving Partnerships, a health professions corporation or association
- Sexual Abuse of a Patient
- Mandatory Report of Child Abuse
The Regulated Health Professions Act gives immunity to people who file mandatory reports if the report is made in good faith, that is, not made maliciously. In addition, the duty to make mandatory reports overrides other duties of confidentiality.
Failure to make a mandatory report can result in a fine of $25,000. It is also professional misconduct for health professionals to fail to make a mandatory report.
Terminating or suspending employment
The RHPA requires that a report be made to the College of Dietitians of Ontario by anyone who terminates or suspends a Registered Dietitian's employment for reasons related to professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity.
30 Days To Make A Mandatory Report
Following a termination or suspension, employers have 30 days to make a mandatory report the College. The report must be made even if a Registered Dietitian resigned before the termination or suspension took place.
Dissolving Partnerships, a health professions corporation or association
Similarly, anyone who dissolves a partnership, corporation or association with a Registered Dietitian for reasons related to professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity must make a written report to the College of Dietitians of Ontario . This report must be made within 30 days of dissolution.
Sexual Abuse of a Patient
There is zero tolerance for sexual abuse of patients by regulated health professionals. All regulated health professionals and facility operators must report Registered Dietitians and any other regulated health professional if they have reasonable grounds, obtained in the course of delivering or administering health services, to believe that a health professional has sexually abused a patient. For the purposes of reporting, sexual abuse has a broad definition:
- sexual intercourse or other forms of physical sexual relations between a member and a client
- touching of a sexual nature of a client by the member
- behaviour or remarks of a sexual nature by a member towards a client
- The name of the person filing the report;
- The name of the Registered Dietitian or other health professional who is the subject of the report;
- An explanation of the alleged sexual abuse; and
- The name of the patient (with written consent) if the sexual abuse is particular to him or her. Please note that a report of sexual abuse under the RHPA cannot include the identity of the client unless the client gives written consent to including his or her name.
Mandatory Report of Child Abuse
Any person who has a reasonable suspicion that a child is in need of protection needs to report that suspicion to the local Children's Aid Society . While everyone has this duty, it is an offence for a dietitian not to make a report when the information is obtained in the course of practising dietetics.
For a report under the Child and Family Services Act, only reasonable grounds to "suspect", not "believe", is needed. This means that the degree of information suggesting that a child is in need of protection can be quite low. The definition of a child in need of protection, under the Child and Family Services Act , is quite lengthy and complex. If in doubt, get advice. For more details, see R. Steinecke & CDO, The Jurisprudence Handbook for Dietitians in Ontario , 2008, p. 30 & 31.
