On June 18, 2012, the Discipline Committee found that Dr. Karen Gaye Dockrill committed an act of professional misconduct, in that she charged a fee for an undertaking to be available to provide services to patients, in that she contravened a regulation made under the Medicine Act, and in that she has engaged in conduct or an act or omission relevant to the practice of medicine that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional. Dr. Dockrill admitted the allegations. Dr. Dockrill is a paediatrician who currently practises in Whitby, Ontario. In 2006, Dr. Dockrill established a business under the name “Mom and Baby Depot Ltd.” (“MBD”). From 2007 through 2010, Dr. Dockrill carried out a paediatric practice through MBD that included both the provision of primary care to children as well as paediatric consults on referral from a family physician. Patients were accepted into Dr. Dockrill’s primary care practice at a family’s request only when parents purchased and maintained a membership in MBD, for which they were charged a fee. For a single child, this fee ranged between $500 and $2,200 per year. This fee failed to comply with the College’s policy with regard to Block Fees and Uninsured Services.
Ms X’s newborn son was referred to Dr. Dockrill for primary care in June 2007 after he underwent surgery at a hospital for a serious condition. When attempting to arrange her son’s first appointment, Ms X was told that she would have to pay $1,500 per year for a MBD membership as a condition of receiving primary care from Dr. Dockrill. Ms X indicated she was not interested in paying for the additional programs and services at MBD and only wanted basic insured medical care. As a result, Ms X’s son was not permitted to see Dr. Dockrill for primary paediatric care.
Between 2008 and 2010, the MBD website advertised the benefits of membership in MBD and Dr. Dockrill’s professional services. In addition, between 2008 and 2010, the advertising on the MBD website included testimonials.
The Discipline Committee ordered and directed that:
- the Registrar suspend Dr. Dockrill’s certificate of registration for a period of one (1) month, to commence within thirty (30) days of the date of this Order;
-the Registrar impose the following terms, conditions and limitations on Dr. Dockrill’s certificate of registration for an indefinite period of time:
a. Dr. Dockrill shall at her own expense, successfully complete College-facilitated instruction in Ethics no later than one (1) year from the date of the Committee’s Order;
b. Dr. Dockrill shall administer block fees for uninsured services in a manner that is consistent with the College’s policy on block fees and uninsured services and without in any way limiting the generality of that requirement,
i. shall not discontinue seeing a patient or refuse to see a new patient because that person chooses not to pay a block fee; and
ii. shall not provide, or offer to provide, preferential services to patients who agree to pay a block fee.
c. Dr. Dockrill shall cooperate with inspections of her practice by representatives of the College for a period of nine (9) months after the completion of the suspension, solely for the purpose of ensuring compliance with this order. Such inspections shall be conducted with at least 24 hours notice being given to Dr. Dockrill before each visit. If any problems with Dr. Dockrill’s block fee practices are discovered within the 9- month time period, the College is entitled to extend the monitoring inspections for a further six (6) months.
- Dr. Dockrill attend before the panel to be reprimanded;
- Dr. Dockrill shall pay the College its costs of this proceeding in the amount of $3,650.00 payable by no later than September 1, 2012.
On April 2, 2015, the Discipline Committee directed that the Registrar remove the indefinite term, condition, and limitation on Dr. Dockrill’s Certificate of Registration set out at paragraph [4] b of the Order of the Discipline Committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario dated June 18, 2012.
Terms and conditions imposed on certificate by: Discipline Committee