Note: This article was originally posted in our December 2017 newsletter, and has not been updated.
The College of Midwives of Ontario’s Inquiries, Complaints, and Reports Committee (ICRC) investigates public complaints and information the College receives through reports regarding concerns related to professional misconduct, incompetence, or incapacity.
Based on their investigations, the ICRC Committee decides whether the concerns warrant a referral to the Discipline or Fitness to Practise Committees or if some other action would better serve the public interest.
The College is committed to fairness and transparency. This commitment led to the development of the ICRC Risk Assessment Framework, and to the College’s decision to post decision making tools online. Designed to guide panels in their assessment of complaints and reports, this tool aids panel members in making fair and consistent decisions, and assists panel members when considering clinical and/or practice issues that may be raised in complaints and reports, along with the risk of harm they pose to clients and the public interest.
Risk is categorized into one of four categories: No or minimal risk; low risk; moderate risk; or high risk. By categorizing all actions into risk categories, decision makers on the panel are able to uniformly assess each complaint and report, enabling transparent, consistent and fair decision-making.
For each complaint and report, the ICRC panel will assess the concerns using the following categories:
• Demonstrating Professional Knowledge & Practice
• Providing Person-Centred Care
• Demonstrating Leadership and Collaboration
• Acting with Integrity
• Being Committed to Self-Regulation
In each situation there can be aggravating factors and mitigating factors, which will be considered by the panel. Some examples of aggravating factors include prior history, intent, and harm to the client. Some examples of mitigating factors include willingness to address the issue(s), cooperation, remorse, and no harm to the client. You can click here to see the tool used by the ICRC.
When risk has been assessed, the ICRC decides which action should be taken, appropriate to the risk. You can see how the ICRC determines outcomes below.
