Circumstances requiring mandatory reporting by RMTs include:

Self reporting:

• Offences and Professional Negligence or Malpractice – You must file a written report if you have had a finding of an offence, including speeding tickets and municipal infractions, made by a court or in a civil proceeding or lawsuit; or if you have had a finding of professional negligence or malpractice made against you.

Reporting of others:

• Suspected Sexual Abuse – A written report must be filed if you have reasonable grounds, obtained in the course of your practice, to believe that a patient has been sexually abused by any registrant of the College or by any registrant of another health regulatory college.
• Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect – The Child and Family Services Act (CFSA) requires registrants of the College (as professionals performing professional or official duties with respect to children) to report on suspected cases of abuse or neglect.
• Suspected Elder Abuse – Under the Nursing Homes Act, if you suspect that a resident has suffered or may suffer harm as a result of unlawful conduct, improper or incompetent treatment of care of neglect, you must report the suspicion to the Director of Nursing Homes.

Further details about each of these reporting requirements, including preparing the report and information about the review and investigation process, are found in the accompanying Mandatory Reporting Guidelines for Registrants document.

The Health Professions Procedural Code requires the employers/facility operators of regulated health practitioners such as Massage Therapists to submit a report to the practitioner’s College whenever they:

• Terminate the employment of a practitioner, for reasons of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity;
• Revoke, suspend or impose restrictions on the privileges of a practitioner, for reasons of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity;
• Dissolve a partnership, a health profession corporation or association with a practitioner, for reasons of professional misconduct, incompetence or incapacity;
• Have reasonable grounds to believe that a health professional who practises at the facility is incompetent, incapacitated or has sexually abused a patient.

The employer/facility operator also has an obligation to file a report if the practitioner resigns to avoid the actions defined above.

Reporting of sexual abuse, professional misconduct, incompetence and incapacity can be complex and sensitive.

Facility owners and employers are encouraged to develop policies that help guide individual RMTs in how they are to handle these situations. In particular, the College suggests that policies be put in place defining who is responsible within the organization for preparing the report for filing with the College Registrar.

Further details about each of these reporting requirements, including preparing the report and information about the review and investigation process, are found in the accompanying Mandatory Reporting Guidelines for Employers/Facility Operators document.