On January 18, 2023, the Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee (ICRC) referred a matter involving Phillip Howell to the Discipline Committee for a hearing.
The hearing took place on March 14, 2024. This matter was resolved by way of an Agreed Statement of Facts and a Joint Submission on Penalty.
Finding
The panel of the Discipline Committee issued a decision on the finding on March 14, 2024, on the penalty on March 14, 2024 and on costs on March 14, 2024.
After having considered all of the evidence, the panel found Phillip Howell to have committed the following acts of professional misconduct:
- paragraph 1 (failing to maintain the standards of practice of the profession); and
- paragraph 18 (engaging in conduct or performing an act relevant to the practice of the profession that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional).
Penalty
The panel ordered the following penalty, Phillip Howell will:
- Receive a reprimand at the conclusion of the hearing (delivered on March 14, 2024)
- Must receive and unconditional pass from the PROBE Ethics and Boundaries program offered through CPEP
- Serve a suspension starting April 11, 2024 until they receive an unconditional pass from the PROBE program noted above
- Review a number of tools, standards and resources
- Participate in practice enhancement coaching
While Philip Howell is serving the suspension, they can only practice as a physiotherapist assistant (PTA) if certain requirements are met.
While serving the suspension, Phillip Howell cannot use the title Physiotherapist, PT or any abbreviation there of Dorothy Hillmann’s name, PT title and/or registration number cannot be use for billing purposes while the suspension is being served.
The panel also ordered Phillip Howell to pay costs to the College in the amount of $7,000 to offset some of the costs associated with investigating and prosecuting this case.
As a part of the penalty, the Committee also issued a reprimand which read as follows:
Mr. Howell, as you know, as part of its penalty order, this discipline panel has ordered that you be given a reprimand. Details of the reprimand will appear on the public portion of the register. The reprimand will remain a part of your record with the College.
Your actions constitute serious and objectionable misconduct which the profession will not tolerate. Your actions harmed an individual and demonstrated carelessness with (their) personal boundaries, lack of adherence to informed consent and disregard for (their) specific request to limit treatment to the area of concern.
The ramifications of your lack of adherence to standards of practice have the potential to seriously harm your patients and undermine the public confidence in the profession.
We expect that the remediation measures outlined in this penalty will ensure your practice always meets the standards of the profession in the future.
We do not expect to see you appear before a panel of the College again.
You can read the full decision of the Discipline Committee of the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario at: www.canlii.ca