Complaints, Discipline, and Regulatory Processes
Process questions reward knowing which body has which power. Most wrong answers give the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC) a power it does not have.
The complaint stream
A complaint goes to the Registrar and is typically referred to the ICRC, which investigates. The ICRC may take no action; provide advice or guidance; accept an undertaking; issue a caution to the member; order a specified continuing education or remediation program (SCERP); or refer the matter to the Discipline Committee or the Fitness to Practise Committee. The ICRC cannot award compensation, impose a fine, or revoke a certificate. Either the complainant or the member may appeal an ICRC decision to the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board, which may confirm the decision or refer it back - it does not substitute its own disposition.
Discipline and fitness
A Discipline Committee panel hears allegations of professional misconduct or incompetence. Available penalties include revocation, suspension, terms, conditions and limitations, a reprimand, a fine, costs, and publication of the finding. The Fitness to Practise Committee addresses incapacity and may suspend or restrict practice pending remediation.
Cooperation and reporting
Failing to cooperate with the College - ignoring correspondence, refusing to produce records - is itself professional misconduct. Members must report sexual abuse by another regulated professional and must report colleagues who are incompetent or incapacitated. The public register records findings, and publication is part of the deterrent and transparency function.
Worked example
A client complains that a report was sloppy. The ICRC orders a SCERP and issues a caution. The client wants the psychologist's licence revoked and $10,000 in compensation. Neither outcome is available from the ICRC; compensation would require civil action, and revocation would require a Discipline Committee finding.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing ICRC powers with Discipline Committee powers.
- Believing HPARB substitutes its own decision for the ICRC's.
- Assuming a civil settlement or apology ends the College process.
- Forgetting that non-cooperation is independently actionable.