Journal Articles
Dialogue
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
July 2006
Dear Editor
Re: Consent to Medical Treatment Policy
The Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office (PPAO), a quasi-independent program of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, would like to comment on the College of Physician and Surgeon's (CPSO) updated Consent to Medical Treatment policy.
The vision of the PPAO is that persons with mental illness in Ontario be treated with dignity and respect, that their legislated rights and entitlements be upheld at all times, and that they be actively involved in decisions affecting their life, care, and treatment. Accordingly, the inclusion of a patients' rights perspective into the guidelines benefits both patients and physicians.
The PPAO believes that more guidance should be provided with respect to informed consent and the information to be provided to patients. The Health Care Consent Act (HCCA) creates a positive obligation on the health practitioner making the finding of treatment incapacity to provide rights information to the client, in accordance with guidelines established by the governing body of the health practitioner's profession. This role is analogous to the role of the rights adviser which has been enshrined in the Mental Health Act (MHA) for 20 years.
Our office has received anecdotal information from patients and members of the public which leads us to believe that many health practitioners are not familiar with their obligations under the Health Care Consent Act. We urge the CPSO to provide extensive education to its members regarding their obligations under this and other pieces of legislation.
David Simpson Director,
Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office
CPSO Reply:
We welcome Mr. Simpson's input; in fact, we believe such feedback from our stakeholders better informs our policies and assists us in producing policies that are meaningful, helpful and relevant to the Ontario medical profession ..
We appreciate the unique struggles of patients with mental illness and share PPAO's expectation that their legislated rights and entitlements be upheld at all times.
The purpose of the policy is to make physicians aware of their obligations under the Health Care Consent Act and encourage physicians to consult the Act in order to familiarize themselves with all of the legislative provisions.
We welcome the opportunity to provide physicians with further guidance about the Act and in particular their obligations with respect to giving patients rights advice.
We would like to direct physicians to the following websites suggested by the PPAO:
- Consent and Capacity Board: www.ccboard.on.ca
- Legal Aid Ontario: www.legalaid.on.ca
- PPAO's website: www.ppao.gov.on.ca
We also encourage physicians to consult the reference materials mentioned in the policy: Consent: A Guide for Canadian Physicians, Third Edition, The Canadian Medical Protective Association, 1996; A Guide to the Health Care Consent Act, CPSO, 1996; Consent to Treatment: A Brief Overview of the Law in Ontario, Michael Bay, 1998.
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