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Executive Summary April 20 & 21, 2007 Council Meeting

The Council of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Saskatchewan operates under an explicit set of governance policies. It strives to make its work as transparent as possible to the medical profession and the general public.

Those portions of the Council's deliberations that are not confidential are open to observation by any person subject to space availability in the College boardroom.

At the conclusion of each Council meeting an Executive Summary of the meeting is widely distributed to the District Medical Associations, related organizations and the public media. This Executive Summary provides a brief overview of issues discussed, decisions made, and/or actions taken by the Council. If any person wishes more detailed information about any of the issues which are not subject to confidentiality constraints, these can be obtained by contacting Ms. Virginia Marsh, the College's Regulatory Services Coordinator, at 211 - 4th Avenue South, Saskatoon S7K 1N1; Phone: (306) 244-7355; Fax: (306) 244-0090; e-mail: marshv@shin.sk.ca

  1. The Council's Strategic Planning Committee reported to Council in respect to the work it accomplished through meetings scheduled on April 4th and April 19th. The committee asked the Council to provide feedback in respect to its work and to clarify its preference with respect to division of future work between the committee and the entire Council.

    The Council determined that it wishes the Strategic Planning Committee to continue development of the College's strategic plan and to bring progress reports to the Council at the Council's June and September meetings.

  2. The Council received a report from the Working Group it appointed to explore options for Councillors to receive information electronically and to use laptop computers for recall and review of Council documents during Council meetings. Dr. James Fritz demonstrated for Councillors the use of Sharepoint software and answered questions from Councillors about the use of Sharepoint. At the conclusion of its deliberations on the report from the Working Group, the Council approved the capital expenditure necessary for the Council to acquire laptop computers and appropriate software for all Councillors. The Working Group and College staff will provide training to all Councillors with the goal of rapidly reducing Council's reliance on paper documents.

  3. The Council approved for posting on the College website a document that will provide guidance to physicians in respect to two practices that are becoming more widespread, are generating patient complaints to the College, and are of concern to the Council. These two practices are:

    1. The inclination of some family physicians to insist that all new patients schedule a "meet and greet" visit during which no immediate needs/concerns of the patient are addressed and following which the physician may decline to accept the patient into the practice.

    2. The inclination of some family physicians to advise patients that they will only deal with one health care issue or problem per visit.

      While the Council understands that these concepts are advocated by some practice management consultants, these concepts do raise ethical concerns and have potential to compromise patient access to comprehensive primary care, particularly in respect to patients who have complex health care needs and/or chronic disease.

      For more information on this subject physicians are encouraged to log onto the College website (www.quadrant.net/cpss) and click on "Patient-Physician Relationships".

  4. The Council revisited a presentation it had received at the last Council meeting from Dr. Rob Weiler in his capacity as Acting Clinical Head of the Department of Anesthesia for the Saskatoon Health Region. Dr. Weiler asked the Council to consider selective registration of IMGs with appropriate knowledge and skills in the discipline of anesthesia to serve as Anesthesia Assistants in the Saskatoon Health Region. Dr. Weiler acknowledged that acceptance of this proposal will be contingent upon the development of a satisfactory plan for evaluating the knowledge and skills of these IMGs and for evaluating the safety and quality of their performance once in practice. The Council directed the Registrar's office to work collaboratively with Dr. Weiler to develop a Pilot Project proposal that will be submitted to the Council for review and final endorsement before the Pilot Project is implemented.

  5. The Council also:

    1. Elected Ms. Karen Prisciak as a member of the Council's Executive Committee to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mrs. Jean MacKay.

    2. Elected Dr. Michael Nsisi as the College's nominee to the Senate of the University of Saskatchewan.

    3. Received a presentation from and interacted with Mr. Ron Knaus in respect to Sask. Health's strategy for recruitment and retention of all health care workers, including physicians. At this point the Sask. Health website includes advertisements for 786 health care worker positions, including 83 physicians. For more information about this initiative please log onto www.healthcareersinsask.ca.

    4. Met with Dr. Jim Melenchuk and Mr. Darrell Bower to learn about the Workers' Compensation Board's case management practices and the relevance of these practices for community based physicians who attend injured workers. For more information about this subject please log onto www.wcbsask.com, click on "Care Provider Services" and then "Support Package for Physicians".

    5. Revised a number of the questions that will be asked of physicians during the course of annual registration renewal with the College.

    6. Deferred further discussion about regulation of telemedicine practice pending the outcome of work on this issue currently being undertaken by the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada (FMRAC).

    7. Reviewed the resolutions for the pending SAHO Annual Meeting and provided feedback to the Council President who will serve as the voting represent-ative of the Council at this meeting.

    8. Received information from the Registrar about the Safer Health Care Now Campaign.

    9. Reviewed and discussed the Registrar's monitoring report in respect to the College's contribution to "A Quality Health Care System".

    10. Reviewed and discussed the Registrar's monitoring reports in respect to the Registrar's compliance with Council Executive Limitation Policies pertaining to:

      1. Regulatory Functions
      2. Communication and Support to the Council
      3. Emergency Executive Succession.

    11. Revised its future plans for scheduled review/revision of governance policies at Council meetings.

    12. Appointed Dr. Suresh Kassett (President), Dr. Edward Tsoi (Past President), and Ms. Peggi-Lynn Gatin (Public Member) to do the Registrar's performance assessment and prepare a report for the Council.

    13. Received a report from a Preliminary Inquiry Committee and made a decision not to lay charges of unprofessional conduct against the physician who was the subject of this investigation.

    14. Received reports from the Registrar's office in respect to work in progress.

After the Council adjourned its meeting on Saturday, April 21st some 30 people, including members of Council, College staff and spouses/guests, participated in a basic CPR course that was organized at the recommendation of Dr. Edward Tsoi, the Past President of Council. The course included instruction in the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) with a goal of increasing the pool of citizens who are able and willing to use these life saving devices that are increasingly accessible in public places and workplaces.

The Council will next meet on June 22 & 23, 2007.