Phil Towsley

This matter came before a Panel of the Discipline Committee on March 7, 2007.

Background
In May 2005 the College received a complaint from Mr. McNeely’s former employer, the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) expressing concern with regards to Mr. McNeely’s practice while employed with their organization and his actions after he ceased to be an employee. After an extensive investigation of the concerns cited in the letter of complaint, the Complaints Committee (a screening committee of the College) referred the matter to the Discipline Committee for a hearing. Prior to the hearing date, counsel for the College and counsel for the member discussed the case on several occasions. During the discussions, Mr. McNeely agreed that his actions in the above noted matter constituted professional misconduct. The College and Mr. McNeely were able to negotiate a penalty which was confirmed as being appropriate by the College’s Executive Committee. The parties agreed that the penalty recognized the mitigating factors in the case, the need to address the issue of deterrence and provide for rehabilitation. The Member’s Plea
Mr. McNeely admitted the allegations and the fact that his conduct constituted professional misconduct.

A Summary of the Allegations and Agreed Facts
From in or about October 2003 to in or about September 2004, Mr. McNeely shared client information with his colleagues primarily through verbal reports, rather than written reports. While in the process of leaving LHSC, Mr. McNeely failed to complete a referral status report regarding files for which reports were outstanding , failed to return in a timely fashion employer property, namely keys, a pager, employee identification and client charts .

Decision
The Panel agreed that Mr. McNeely’s conduct constituted professional misconduct. This finding was made in accordance with paragraph 2 of O.Reg.800/93, as amended under the Occupational Therapy Act, 1991.

Section 2 Contravening a standard of practice of the profession or failing to maintain the standards of practice of the profession. The Panel of the Discipline Committee agreed that the proposed penalty was reasonable and that it fulfilled the five Principles on Order namely:
  • Protection of the Public,
  • Maintaining the reputation of the profession and its ability to govern itself,
  • General deterrence for the profession,
  • Specific deterrence to the member, and
  • Rehabilitation of the member
In addition, the panel acknowledged the following mitigating factors:
  1. This was Mr. McNeely’s first finding of professional misconduct.
  2. Mr. McNeely was experiencing some personal and financial challenges and
  3. Mr. McNeely’s actions did not result in harm to a client.
Penalty and Costs
Counsel for the College advised the Panel that a Joint Submission on Order had been agreed upon. The Joint Submission on Order was accepted by the Panel with some amendments. The order of the Panel is as follows:
  1. Mr. McNeely will be required to appear before a panel of the Discipline Committee to be reprimanded by telephone on a date chosen by the Registrar. The fact of the reprimand shall be recorded on the public register of the College.
  2. The Registrar will be directed to suspend Mr. McNeely’s certificate of registration four (4) months, to be served on a date chosen by the Registrar.
  3. The Registrar will be directed to impose a term, condition and limitation requiring Mr. McNeely’s practice to be supervised for the two (2) year period immediately following his return to active occupational therapy practice in Ontario. The supervised practice will involve regular meetings with the supervisor to discuss caseload; one shadowed visit per month by the supervisor; and one random chart audit each quarter with follow-up reports to the Registrar by the practice supervisor regarding the chart audit and regarding Mr. McNeely’s practice in general.
  4. The Registrar will be directed to impose a term, condition and limitation requiring that Mr. McNeely successfully complete a course in ethics and a course in record keeping acceptable to the Registrar, at Mr. McNeely’s cost, within the four (4) months immediately prior to his reapplying for registration with the College.
  5. The Registrar will be directed to impose a term, condition and limitation prohibiting Mr. McNeely from supervising students or provisional practising registrants for two years after his return to active occupational therapy practice in Ontario.
  6. Mr. McNeely will be ordered to pay to the College costs in the amount of $3000 to be paid in full prior to re-applying for registration with the College.
In addition to appearing on the website, this summary will be available in the annual report. Please feel free to contact the Manager of Investigations & Resolutions should you require additional information.