{"id":1494,"date":"2024-11-27T18:58:53","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T23:58:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-coto.pantheonsite.io\/?page_id=1494"},"modified":"2026-02-10T18:27:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T23:27:00","slug":"health-inquiries","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/registrants\/conduct\/health-inquiries\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Inquiries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-incapacity-and-fitness-to-practise\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>Incapacity and fitness to practise<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>Sometimes, an occupational therapist may<strong>&nbsp;suffer from a mental or physical condition that affects their ability to practise<\/strong>.&nbsp;<strong>\u201cIncapacity\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;is the term used when an occupational therapist cannot practise safely or effectively for these reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When information about an occupational therapist&#8217;s capacity or &#8220;<strong>fitness to practise<\/strong>&#8221; is brought to the attention of the College, the College must look into the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The College has a legal&nbsp;<strong>duty to ensure there is no risk to client safety and care<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"content-section-block has-fade-in-up  align wp-block-acf-content-section\" id=\"section-health-inquiry-process\">\n    <div class=\"section-header \">\n        <h2>Health inquiry process<\/h2>\n            <\/div>\n\n    <div class=\"content-section\" aria-hidden=\"false\">\n        <div class=\"acf-innerblocks-container\">\n\n<p>When the College learns that an occupational therapist\u2019s health may be a risk to their safe practice, a health inquiry will start.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Health inquiries may include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>speaking with the registrant,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>speaking with the registrant\u2019s co-workers or supervisors,\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>requesting and obtaining the registrant\u2019s relevant health records (with the registrant\u2019s consent), and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>requiring a registrant to attend an independent medical examination<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>After all the information is reviewed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If there is no information to support the registrant cannot practise safely, the inquiry will be closed.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Or the registrant may be offered an\u00a0<strong>undertaking<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Undertakings can range from having the registrant stop practice or follow a course of treatment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Or where there is information to support the registrant is incapacitated and is unwilling to sign an undertaking or stop practice, the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/public\/public-protection\/icrc\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"1062\">Inquiries, Complaints and Reports Committee<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(ICRC) may refer the registrant to the\u00a0<strong>Fitness to Practise<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>Committee\u00a0<\/strong>for a hearing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The College understands health inquiries may feel invasive to a registrant. However, the health inquiry process is confidential, and nothing is placed on the public register about a registrant\u2019s health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If an occupational therapist is referred to the<strong>&nbsp;Fitness to Practise Committee&nbsp;<\/strong>and they are found incapacitated, that finding is made public. However, no details of the condition or disorder are published.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While inquiries can be stressful, they are not meant to punish registrants. Health inquiries and any actions the College takes are to protect the public and make sure occupational therapists are working in a safe way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have concerns about an occupational therapist&#8217;s fitness to practise, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:investigations@coto.org\">investigations@coto.org<\/a>&nbsp;or 416-214-1177\/1-800-890-6570 x234.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":175,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"wp-custom-template-sidebar-page","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advanced_seo_description":"When the College learns that an occupational therapist\u2019s health may be a risk to their safe practice, a health inquiry will start.\u00a0","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1494","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1494"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7867,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1494\/revisions\/7867"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coto.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}