Regulator’s malpractice puts Manitobans at risk

Opinion

It’s hard to imagine a bigger failure by a professional regulatory body than what’s happening right now at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba.

The college, which is supposed to protect the public from doctors who engage in misconduct, currently has just one investigator assigned to review complaints from the public about physician conduct.

One.

There are 225 outstanding complaints in front of the regulatory body, most of them involving serious matters, and only a single investigator to probe them. It’s appalling.

The backlog is so severe that some Manitobans who filed complaints about their doctor are waiting up to a year — maybe longer — to have them addressed. In the meantime, doctors who may have engaged in inappropriate — even harmful — conduct continue to practise without restriction.

That means some physicians who should have conditions on their licences, who may need supervision or who may even need to be suspended, are allowed to continue working as though nothing happened.

Not because the college investigated and cleared them, but because the college is so woefully understaffed it can’t even process the complaints in a timely manner.

This is not a minor bureaucratic problem. This is a matter of public safety.

The college has acknowledged the problem and says it has hired a research analyst to help support case files. Another investigator is being trained. But that’s not nearly good enough.

Like all self-regulating professional bodies, the college has a legal and moral duty to protect the public. It is not there to protect doctors. It is not there to shield the profession from embarrassment.

Its mandate, under provincial law, is to ensure doctors practise safely and ethically and to take action when they don’t.

Yet, by starving its investigative unit to the point where there is only one person left to review hundreds of files, the college is failing that most basic responsibility.

The delays are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. These are real patients who may have had troubling or even traumatic experiences with their physicians. They’ve taken the difficult step of filing a formal complaint, expecting the regulator will take their concerns seriously. Instead, they’re left waiting months or years for answers.

What message does this send to the public? That if you have a serious issue with physician misconduct, you shouldn’t bother to file a complaint because the college employs only one individual to handle cases and it could take a year or more just to start an investigation?

In the meantime, they may still be seeing the same doctor who wronged them, or knowing that other patients are exposed to the same risks. That is unacceptable.

When physicians are found to have engaged in misconduct, the college often imposes conditions on their practice. Sometimes they must undergo additional training. Sometimes they are restricted from performing certain procedures. Sometimes they require supervision.

In more serious cases, they are suspended or even stripped of their licence.

There is a wide spectrum of disciplinary action available. But when there’s a backlog of this magnitude, none of that happens until investigations begin, or until a ruling has been made by the college.

That creates a dangerous vacuum where doctors who may be unsafe or unfit to practise are left unchecked.

The big question is: how did it get this bad? That has not been properly explained by the college, which is not some powerless volunteer association. It’s a regulator enshrined in provincial legislation with sweeping powers over who gets to practise medicine.

To allow its investigative arm to wither to the point of having only one investigator is a failure of leadership at the highest levels. It suggests the college has lost sight of its core mission.

Yes, investigations are resource-intensive. Yes, recruiting trained staff takes time. But that is no excuse for the negligence on display here

The provincial government also bears some responsibility. Self-regulation works only if regulators do the job entrusted to them. When they fail, it is up to government to step in.

The health minister should be demanding answers from the college. Manitobans deserve to know how many cases are in limbo, how many patients could be at risk and what concrete steps are being taken to fix the problem.

The government should also consider whether additional oversight or even legislative changes are needed to ensure the college fulfils its public mandate. If the college can’t do its job, the province has a duty to make sure someone does.

Manitobans expect better from their medical regulator. They expect timely investigations, fair outcomes and, above all, protection from harm.

The college must fix this mess immediately. If it doesn’t, the government must hold it accountable.

Allowing doctors who may be unfit to practise to continue seeing patients without restriction is not just a failure of regulation, it’s a betrayal of public trust.

» Tom Brodbeck is a Winnipeg Free Press columnist.