B.C. regulator bans RMT from ‘social gestures such as hugging and kissing’ with patients

A massage table is seen in an undated image from Shutterstock.

A Vancouver massage therapist has been banned from “any non-therapeutic physical contact” with his patients while the provincial regulatory college investigates allegations of “serious boundary and informed consent violations” against him.

The College of Complementary Health Professionals of B.C. issued a summary protection order against Richard Tansley last week, following a complaint received about him on April 9.

The allegations against Tansley have not been proven, and the summary protection order has been put in place while the college investigates.

“The panel (of the college’s investigation committee) applied the applicable statutory test and, without deciding the merits of the allegations, was satisfied there are reasonable grounds to believe that the respondent’s continued, unrestricted practice poses a significant risk of harm,” reads a statement on the college’s public directory entry for Tansley.

The specifics of the complaint are not detailed in the statement, which says only that it included “allegations of serious boundary and informed consent violations by the respondent.”

Under the summary protection order, Tansley is subject to the following restrictions while the investigation is ongoing:

• He is “prohibited from engaging in any non-therapeutic physical contact with patients, including but not limited to social gestures such as hugging and kissing;”
• His communication with patients is limited to only that which is necessary for the provision of massage therapy services;
• He is prohibited from contacting patients via text messages, messaging apps or social media;
• He must “explain the purpose and areas he requires access to during treatment, request the patient remove or move any clothing or draping themselves, and must make a clear notation of the consent obtained, and the clothing removed or moved in the clinical record;”
• He must keep records for all patients he treats;
• And he must share his calendar with the college by 5 p.m. every other Friday, providing names and contact information for all patients he treated during the preceding two weeks.

According to the college, the panel determined these restrictions were “commensurate with the risk identified.”

“In reaching its decision, the panel considered the nature and seriousness of the misconduct, which if proven would constitute a serious boundary violation given that maintaining boundaries with patients is important in ensuring a safe and trustworthy environment and addressing the inherent power imbalance between patients and practitioners,” the statement concludes.