Proposed Bill Makes it Safe to Apologize

A bill designed to allow both individuals and institutions to apologize without fear of reprisal in the form of lawsuits or disciplinary hearings was recently tabled in the Ontario legislature.

David Orazietti, Ontario Liberal MPP for Sault St. Marie, introduced the The Apology Act in order to bring more accountability and transparency to the Ontario health care system.

“This has the greatest significance for health care issues as from time to time there appears to be circumstances where an individual may have been harmed or adversely affected by what they thought was the normal course of treatment,” said Orazietti.

“People have come to me and said ‘if staff could just come forward and take responsibility that would enable me to move forward’.”

Currently health care professionals are counseled not to take responsibility for treatment concerns or problems by their insurance providers, who would be liable, he said.

If the bill passes “healthcare professionals would be able to have frank conversations and the lines of communication would remain open. It would remove the barriers that currently exist and make our health care system more open and transparent.”

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Health Minister David Caplan and Attorney General Chris Bentley have all expressed their support for the bill. The government hopes it will remove the walls that currently exist between health care professionals and their patients regarding care issues.

It is also hoped that it will reduce the number of cases that end up burdening the Ontario legal system, as some patients are going to court simply to seek an apology for mistreatment.

The legislation would not impact individuals’ rights to sue or receive compensation in a successful lawsuit. Similar legislation has been passed in British Columbia in 2006, in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2007 and in several American and Australian states.