Health and Community Services
May 26, 2014

Public Disclosure Legislation Strengthens Health Services for Residents

Amendments Will Enhance and Protect Public Disclosure of Health Information

The Provincial Government has proposed amendments to 17 health profession governing statutes to ensure that appropriate public disclosure is carried out when a sanction is imposed upon a health professional. The proposed amendments under Bill 8, An Act to Amend Various Acts of the Province Respecting the Publication of a Summary of a Decision or Order of an Adjudication Tribunal, received second reading in the House of Assembly today.

“Our government has enacted legislation that regulates health professionals and ensures that only qualified, appropriately trained health professionals practice in the province. In the event that a health professional has been found to be guilty of conduct deserving of sanction, varying levels of discipline are enforced, including publication of an adjudication tribunal’s decision. We remain committed to this level of public disclosure. However, we must strike a careful balance to ensure that the publication of information does not create undue harm to the well-being of a health professional or complainant.”
- The Honourable Paul Davis, Minister of Health and Community Services

The proposed amendments will allow for health professionals, a complainant or another person to go to court to determine what information pertaining to the sanction should be published.

“The amendments will provide consistency across all 17 of the province’s health professional governing statutes. We will always aim to have appropriate disclosure of information, especially concerning health care. However, there may be rare instances where publishing all of the information could compromise an individual’s health and well-being.”
- Minister Davis

QUICK FACTS

• The proposed amendments contained in Bill 8 ensure that appropriate public disclosure is carried out when a health professional is sanctioned by his or her governing body.
• When a health professional is sanctioned, a summary of the decision must be published in a local newspaper. The new amendments will permit a court application to determine what information will be published.
• Complete public disclosure of sanctions imposed by adjudication tribunals will continue to be the overall goal of the 17 statutes that govern health professionals in the province.

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Media contacts:

Heather MacLean Director of Communications Department of Health and Community Services 709-729-1377, 697-4137 heathermaclean@gov.nl.ca

2014 05 26                                        3:05 p.m.