Saskatchewan · Saskatchewan College of Physical Therapists

How to Respond to a SCPT Complaint

A letter from the Saskatchewan College of Physical Therapists is unsettling, but the process is more predictable than it first looks — and one feature governs everything else: the College must investigate every signed, written complaint, and the Professional Conduct Committee decides on the documents. Your written response and your chart are your case.

What a SCPT complaint is

A complaint to the Saskatchewan College of Physical Therapists is a formal request that the regulator examine your professional practice or conduct. SCPT is the self-regulating body that licenses, regulates and disciplines physical therapists (also called physiotherapists) in Saskatchewan, and it takes its authority from The Physical Therapists Act, 1998. A complaint is not a lawsuit and not a court. The College cannot award a complainant money and cannot order you to change a clinical opinion. Its jurisdiction is your licence and your fitness to practise.

Two features of the Saskatchewan process shape how you should respond. First, complaints must be signed and in writing, and SCPT is required by law to investigate every signed, written complaint — so a complaint will not simply be waved through or dropped informally. Second, the complainant signs a release allowing the College to access your clinical treatment file, and you will be asked for a written response. Your response and your chart are, in practice, your case.

The two things the Act recognises

The Physical Therapists Act, 1998 gives the College only two categories into which a disciplinable concern can fall, and the whole process turns on them:

• Professional incompetence (section 22) — a lack of knowledge, skill or judgment, or a disregard for the welfare of a patient, of a nature or extent that shows the member is unfit to continue in practice or to provide a service ordinarily part of it.
• Professional misconduct (section 23) — any matter, whether or not disgraceful or dishonourable, that is harmful to the best interests of the public or members, tends to harm the standing of the profession, breaches the Act or bylaws, or fails to comply with an order of the College.

When you read the complaint, ask which of these two the concern is really aimed at. Your response should answer that, not a version of the complaint you would rather address.

What happens first

When a complaint arrives, the Executive Director and Registrar confirms that the person named is an SCPT member and notifies both you and the complainant that a complaint has been received. The matter is then forwarded to the Professional Conduct Committee, which runs the investigation. You have 30 days to submit a written response together with any associated documentation, including your physical therapy chart. Once the Committee has your response and records, the investigation begins.

Before you draft a word

The instinct to explain everything at once is the one to resist. Three things come first:

• Do not alter the chart. Amending, back-dating or “tidying” the treatment record after a complaint is far more serious than the original concern and is the fastest route to a discipline referral. A genuine late entry must be dated and clearly marked as an addition.
• Do not contact the complainant to discuss, persuade or apologise your way out of it. Communication runs through the College.
• Tell your professional liability insurer and get advice before you respond. Physiotherapists carry professional liability cover that generally includes assistance with regulatory complaints, and that support is most useful within the first days, not after a draft has gone in.

What a strong written response contains

Because the Professional Conduct Committee works from the documents, the quality of your response matters more than anything else you do. A strong response is measured, specific and anchored in the chart. It answers the concern actually raised rather than the one you wish had been raised. It sets out what you did and why, referenced to your notes and to the applicable standards — the national Code of Ethical Conduct and the SCPT Standards of Practice for Physical Therapists in Saskatchewan. It acknowledges, without defensiveness, anything that could have been done better, and shows what you have already changed. When you release records, do so in a way consistent with The Health Information Protection Act (HIPA) and the College’s request.

Tone carries weight. A response that is dismissive or that attacks the complainant reads badly to a committee assessing whether your conduct is safe. One that engages seriously with the concern — even where you disagree with it — reads as the response of a safe practitioner.

What the Professional Conduct Committee can do

After investigating, the Committee determines whether the conduct could constitute professional incompetence or professional misconduct. If it does not, the matter is dismissed and nothing is placed in your file. If the conduct could amount to a disciplinable offence, the Committee may offer a Resolution by Mutual Consent — a remedial agreement it develops. The complainant must agree to resolve the matter this way but does not decide its terms; you must agree to the Resolution for it to be used. If either party does not agree, the matter is referred to the Discipline Committee for a hearing. Understanding this is why a considered response matters: it is often what keeps a matter resolved at the Committee stage rather than escalating to a hearing.

How long it takes, and getting help

The Professional Conduct Committee meets roughly every four to six weeks, and an investigation commonly takes ninety days or longer, sometimes several months where the facts are complex. All complaints are confidential while they run, though de-identified case summaries and discipline outcomes are published. Keep your own contemporaneous file, respond to every College request promptly, and take advice from your liability insurer and, for anything serious, a regulatory lawyer, early rather than late.

This guide concerns the Saskatchewan College of Physical Therapists (SCPT) and is general information about regulatory process in Saskatchewan under The Physical Therapists Act, 1998, not legal advice. Every complaint turns on its own facts, and review and appeal routes carry strict 30-day deadlines. For advice on your situation, contact your professional liability insurer and a lawyer experienced with SCPT and Saskatchewan health-profession regulation before you respond. Last updated July 15, 2026.