As you may be aware, the Government of Alberta has introduced changes to the Health Professions Act (HPA). This is the most significant change to the HPA since it came into force. Introduced as Bill 21 – An Act to Protect Patients, Royal Assent was given on November 19, 2018. Bill 21 speaks specifically to sexual abuse and sexual misconduct by regulated health professionals and introduces a number of new requirements for regulatory health colleges, including us at the College, and its members. Some portions of the Bill were in effect as of November 19, 2018 and some came into force on April 1, 2019.

The protection of the public is of paramount importance to the College, and it supports this legislation. The College emphasizes that the vast majority of its members treat their patients with respect and professionalism, it will work with the community in recognizing and addressing concerns around the power imbalance between health professionals and patients that this legislation addresses. A quick summary of changes that are happening at the College in response to Bill 21, which is now absorbed into the HPA are provided below –

Standards of Practice
The College has established a new Standard Area 5.0 Protection of Patients from Sexual Abuse and Sexual Misconduct that came into force as of April 1, 2019. It provides new legally enforced concepts on –

• Who is considered to be a patient
• When a sexual relationship between a regulated member and a former member can occur
• When a person who is a spouse or in an interdependent adult relationship can also be a patient

This new Standard must be reviewed, understood and practiced within the context of the current Standards of Practice document dated July 5, 2014.

Disciplinary consequences are the cancellation of a practice permit if a member is found guilty of sexual abuse, suspension if found guilty of sexual misconduct and publication of discipline history in perpetuity for sexual abuse and sexual misconduct. The College has been working with the CAMRT and OAMRS to help ensure that their professional liability insurance provides appropriate coverage to members.

Public Register
The College maintains an online public register of its current members with a live link to its database. Information displayed by this system always shows a time stamp to ensure transparency and integrity of information. The College’s public register has been updated to display information of former members for a 2-year period and in perpetuity if there are disciplinary findings.

Other Requirements

• Establishing a Patient Relations Program that provides funding for treatment of victims
• Ensure education for College staff, Council, Hearing Tribunals and members
• Colleges to collect Criminal Record Checks from applicants and increased reporting requirements at renewal
• New reporting requirement for members and employers mandating that if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the conduct of a member may constitute sexual abuse or misconduct, they must report it to the Complaints Director

Patient Relations Program
The enactment of Bill 21 has a far-reaching impact on health Colleges and their members. The Bill is available here. Please read on to understand the highlights of this new legislation.

The Bill defines sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and what is not considered sexual nature of a treatment. The new legislation ensures consistency of conduct related processes and sanctions.

The College has also created an addendum based on new requirements under the HPA as of April 1, 2019. This new Standard Area 5.0 Protection of Patients from Sexual Abuse and Sexual Misconduct came into full force as of April 1, 2019, it must be reviewed, understood and practiced as within the context of the 2014 Standards of Practice document.

The College has initiated its patient relations program. The program includes measures for preventing and addressing sexual abuse or misconduct towards patients by regulated members. These measures include educational requirements for regulated members and educational guidelines for the conduct of regulated members towards patients, which the College expects regulated members complete. Please read more here.

• The College has created training for trauma informed practices for College staff, Council and Hearing Tribunal members; information for respecting the College’s complaints processes; and assistance in directing individuals to appropriate resources, persons or organizations that may be able to assist them.
• The College is releasing a training module for protecting patients from sexual abuse and sexual misconduct. In this module, regulated members will learn about the broad definitions of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct, guidelines for maintaining appropriate professional boundaries and mandatory reporting requirements for regulated members and employers. This module will be released this summer. Regulated members are expected to review complete this module. This module can also be applied to a regulated member’s Continuing Competence Program (CCP).
• The College has set aside funding for patients who may allege unprofessional conduct in the form of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct against a regulated member.