TRAnsparency
Additional efforts
underway to advance
transparency initiative
photo: istockphoto.com
Improvements coming to
physician, premises register
We believe that in order to be truly transparent, members
of the public must experience the public register as easy to
use, easy to search and when information is found, easy to
understand.
One of the AGRE Phase 1 recommendations included a
review of the website to evaluate clarity of information and
ease of search.
We have retained a web-review company to do a website usability review. The company will conduct a comprehensive review of the physician-specific and premises
register functions. The review will include comparisons
to other websites, focus groups and independent evaluation. This work will conclude shortly.
Improvements are also being planned for the register
about out-of-hospital premises.
When the premises register was created in January of
2013, it had been the College’s intention to make the
database searchable and to explore changes to its content
to make it easier to understand for people wanting to
know more information about out-of-hospital premises
inspections.
Recommendations from the website usability review
will inform further revisions to the premises register.
Posting discipline reprimands
Currently when the Discipline Committee issues a reprimand, the text of the reprimand is available to those who
attend the hearing. Information posted on the public register includes the decision and the fact of the reprimand, but
does not include the text of the reprimand itself.
In future, the content of the reprimand delivered by
the Discipline Committee will be included on the public
register.
Discipline decisions overturned
on appeal
Currently the College removes from the register the
results of every discipline or incapacity decision where
the decision is reversed on appeal.
Council believes that keeping decisions of the Discipline Committee which have been overturned on the
public register – together with a clear notification that
the decision has been overturned – would better reflect
the spirit of the legislation and serve the College’s goal
of transparency. This is consistent with how Court
judgments are handled.
Issue 4, 2014 Dialogue
41