The Manitoba government is taking steps to maintain high levels of trust and transparency in health professionals through proposed changes to the Regulated Health Professions Amendment Act (RHPA).
“Manitobans trust their health-care providers in their most vulnerable moments, and when that trust is broken and patients are harmed, Manitobans deserve answers,” said Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara. “When a health professional is convicted of an offense that impacts that trust, it’s important the public understand how colleges respond.”
Under the proposed legislation, cases would be open to the public when a health professional’s registration or certificate of practice is being considered for cancellation by their college due to a conviction for an offence relevant to the suitability to practice.
The proposed amendments contain limited exceptions. Colleges would be required to disclose the reasons for invoking exceptions orally at the meeting and make them available to the public in writing. Reasons for a meeting to remain closed would include disclosure of matters involving public security, jeopardizing personal safety or prejudicing an ongoing civil or criminal proceeding, the minister noted.
The RHPA is umbrella legislation and sets out consistent rules and processes for governance, registration, complaints, discipline, regulation and bylaw-making authority for Manitoba’s health profession regulatory colleges.
For more information about the RHPA, visit gov.mb.ca.
