consultation
Balancing MD and patient rights
Human rights draft policy open for consultation
photo: istockphoto.com
L
The draft, titled Professional Obligations and
ast summer, we held a preliminary consultaHuman Rights, aims to balance both physician and
tion on our current policy which sets out
patient rights in this context. While the Charter of
physicians’ existing legal obligations under
Rights and Freedoms entitles physicians to limit the
Ontario’s Human Rights Code and the Colhealth services they provide on moral or religious
lege’s expectation that physicians respect the fundamengrounds, the draft policy emphasizes that doing so
tal rights of those who seek their services. The policy
must not impede, either directly or indialso addresses the College’s expectations in
rectly, patients’ access to care.
circumstances where physicians limit the
The draft policy requires that physicians,
services they provide on moral or religious
Participants
who choose to limit the health services they
grounds. It was this section of the policy
held very
provide on moral or religious grounds, do
that fueled an unprecedented volume of
so in a manner that respects patient dignity,
consultation responses, with more than
different and
6700 respondents weighing in.
often polarized ensures access to care and protects patient
safety. These steps reflect the core values of
It quickly became apparent that the
perspectives on professionalism which provide the foundaparticipants held very different and often
tion for medical practice.
polarized perspectives on these issues. Many
these issues.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on the
consultation participants expressed their
draft policy and whether you feel it strikes
support for the idea that physicians should
the right balance between physician and patient rights.
not have to provide services that conflict with their
To read the full draft and provide feedback during our
moral and/or religious beliefs. Others took the opposite
consultation, please visit our website at www.cpso.on.ca.
view, arguing that patients should not be impacted by a
We want to know what you think. Please see next page
physician’s personally held beliefs. Both viewpoints were
for more information.
carefully considered in drafting the new policy.
Issue 4, 2014 Dialogue
49