Professional Appeals Committee

Terms of Reference

Role
1. SEAMO allocates resources to clinical departments to enable them to meet their deliverables. It is the responsibility of the department to establish policies regarding the clinical role, clinical workload, and professional compensation of its members. SEAMO recognizes the need to provide its academic physicians with access to a collegial dispute resolution mechanism regarding these matters. Toward this end, SEAMO requires department-based appeals mechanisms developed through collegial processes.

2. SEAMO has established a Professional Appeals Committee to hear appeals of departmental decisions regarding clinical role, clinical workload, and professional compensation.

3. These Terms of Reference do not contemplate the Professional Appeals Committee superimposing a new scheme on Departments. The role of the Professional Appeals Committee is to determine if the department’s collegially derived rules are fair and were fairly and appropriately applied in a specific case.

How constituted
4. The Professional Appeals Committee shall be constituted as follows:
4.1 Each clinical department shall select, through a democratic and collegial process, an individual who shall be eligible to sit on the SEAMO Professional Appeals Committee.
4.2 Department Heads and Deputy Heads shall not be eligible.
4.3 When an individual wishes to appeal a decision of the department related to the individual’s clinical role, clinical workload, or professional compensation, a three person Professional Appeals Committee shall be selected by random choice from among the names provided.
4.4 No person from the appellant’s home department, no person with a pecuniary or non-pecuniary conflict of interest shall serve on the Committee.

5. The three members of the Professional Appeals Committee shall convene and select a Chair from among themselves.

Initiation of an appeal
6. When an individual wishes to appeal a decision of the department related to the individual's clinical role, clinical workload, or professional compensation, the individual shall apply to the CEO of SEAMO within thirty (30) days of the receipt of the final decision from the department to request initiation of the appeal process.

Procedures
7. The Chair of the Professional Appeals Committee shall write to the appellant to provide the appellant with the Terms of Reference and advise the appellant of the names of the Committee members. The Chair shall ask the appellant to provide the Professional Appeals Committee, within three (3) weeks of the receipt of the request, a written statement clearly identifying the nature of and grounds for the appeal, including any material in support of the appeal (“appellant’s material”). The letter shall indicate that:
• the appellant’s material will be provided to the appellant’s department;
• the department will be asked to respond to the appeal within three (3) weeks of the receipt of the appellant’s material;
• the department’s response will then be forwarded to the appellant.

8. On receipt of the appellant’s material, the Chair shall write to the appellant’s department head advising of the appeal and providing the department head with the Professional Appeals Committee Terms of Reference, the names of the Committee members, and the appellant’s material. The department head shall be asked to file a written response to the appellant’s material with supporting documents (“department’s material”) within three (3) weeks of receipt of the request. The letter shall indicate that the department’s material will be provided to the appellant.

9. The Department shall provide to the Professional Appeals Committee copies of the appellant’s role description, annual reports, and annual reviews. The Committee may request of either party additional information which it views as necessary to a fair determination of the appeal.

10. Both parties shall receive all documents that are submitted to the Professional Appeals Committee.

11. The Professional Appeals Committee shall meet following receipt of the appellant’s and department’s material in order to review all submitted material. At this time, the Committee will set the hearing date and a firm deadline for submission of any subsequent material. Ordinarily, all further documentation must be received no less than two (2) weeks before the hearing date. The Committee shall attempt to set the hearing date within four (4) to six (6) weeks of the commencement of the Committee’s review of the submitted material.

12. Neither the date of the hearing nor the date by which material shall be submitted should fall on a statutory holiday or commonly recognized religious holiday.

13. The Chair shall write to the appellant and to the department head notifying them of the hearing date and of the deadline for submission of any additional information.

14. The SEAMO Professional Appeals process will be carried out in accordance with the rules of natural justice and procedural fairness. Both the appellant and the department have the right to consult with an advisor, including legal counsel. Should either party wish to invite an advisor to attend the hearing, ordinarily only one person from each party shall ask questions of the other party. The Committee should be notified, at least two (2) weeks prior to the hearing date, of the name of any advisor who will be attending and the name(s) of any witnesses who will attend.

15. At the hearing, the appellant will present his/her case first. The department will then have an opportunity to respond. The appellant will then have the opportunity to respond to issues raised by the department which the appellant had not previously addressed.

16. The Chair will allow each party to ask the other questions. If the parties are to bring witnesses, each party may ask questions of the other party’s witnesses.

17. The Professional Appeals Committee may ask questions of the appellant, department, or witnesses solely for the purpose of clarifying their understanding of the points raised.

18. The Chair of the Professional Appeals Committee shall make such procedural decisions as may be required from time to time. Ordinarily, the Committee will secure legal counsel for the sole purpose of advising on procedure.

19. The hearing shall be held in camera and deliberations of the Committee shall be held confidential.

20. The Professional Appeals Committee shall tape record its hearings. The Chair shall announce at the beginning of each hearing that it is being recorded and that the recording is for the purpose of assisting the Committee when making its deliberations. The tape recording shall be held confidential by SEAMO. The tape recording shall be maintained for one (1) year during which time either party may, with due notice, listen to the tapes and make notes.

21. The Professional Appeals Committee shall keep minutes of its meetings. Minutes are to be held confidential and are to assist the Committee during its deliberations.

Alternative dispute resolution
22. At the request of both parties, the Chair may temporarily suspend the appeal to allow for alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation. At the request of either party, the appeal shall be resumed.

Decision of the Professional Appeals Committee
23. The Professional Appeals Committee shall render a decision with reasons for the decision and shall report the decision to the parties within two (2) weeks of the conclusion of the hearing.

24. Should the Professional Appeals Committee find that an appellant was not treated in accordance with the Department’s internal rules or was treated unfairly, the Committee can direct that the Department apply the rules or it can direct that the Department reconsider the issue within timelines established by the Committee. Should the Professional Appeals Committee find the Department’s process was so flawed as to make fair reconsideration unlikely, or if reconsideration has resulted in substantially the same result, it may directly determine the outcome. Should the parties be unable to reach a mutually satisfactory result within the timeframe established by the Professional Appeals Committee, the Committee may directly determine the outcome.

25. Decisions of the Professional Appeals Committee are binding on the parties.