The College’s Regulatory Bylaws establish expectations for physicians and for the College.  They establish practice standards, establish a Code of Ethics  and Code of Conduct, define certain forms of conduct as unprofessional and establish requirements for licensure.

There have been three changes to College regulatory bylaws since the last edition of the Newsletter.

Regulatory bylaw 27.1 - Advertising

The Council approved an overhauled bylaw 27.1 addressing advertising.  This followed extensive work by a committee that reviewed the advertising bylaws of other Canadian Medical Regulatory Authorities, and reviewed consultation feedback from stakeholder organizations and individuals on the proposed bylaw that had initially been approved in principle.  All physicians who advertise their practices should review the bylaw as there have been material changes in the advertising rules.  An overview is found in the article “Expectations for Physicians on Advertising” in this issue.

Regulatory bylaw 2.3 – Requirements and conditions relating to all forms of licensure and permits

This was a ‘housekeeping’ amendment to remove reference to the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination (MCCEE) if licensure if achieved on or before June 30, 2019, as this is no longer applicable.  This also required the renumbering of two paragraphs in bylaw 2.3.

Regulatory bylaw 2.13 - Podiatric Surgery Permits  

As a result of the above amendment to bylaw 2.3, bylaw 2.13 also required a ‘housekeeping’ amendment to reference the correct paragraph numbers in the amended 2.3.

* Bylaw changes come into effect once they are approved by the Government of Saskatchewan and published in the Saskatchewan Gazette.

Council regularly reviews the policies, guidelines and standards which are then made available on the College’s website. 

Since the last edition of DocTalk, Council has updated 2 policies. 

*Click on each title below to view the complete version of the policy, standard or guideline.
 

UPDATED POLICY – Withdrawal of Physician Services during Job Action 

At its January meeting, after considering feedback from stakeholders, Council approved an updated policy Withdrawal of Physician Services during Job Action with a sunset date of 5 years.  The approved amendments included the following:

• The addition of a definitions section, defining such terms as ‘job action,’ ‘withdrawal of services’ and ‘urgent/care;’
• Enhanced expectations for patient protection in planning for and during a withdrawal of services during job action;
• A requirement that physicians intending to withdraw services during job action provide written notification to the CPSS, the SHA and (in some circumstances) the College of Medicine;
• Limitations on the ability of an entire group of physicians or physician clinics/divisions/departments to engage in a complete withdrawal of services;
• The addition of a role for CPSS to communicate with the physician(s) contemplating job action to encourage compliance with the policy and to protect public safety;
• An enhanced role for CPSS to evaluate the situation if it receives a complaint, and to act to prevent patient harm as its primary responsibility;
• An expectation that while considering the individual circumstances of a physician, the CPSS will consider whether imposing an obligation on that physician would result in the physician having an unsustainable or unsafe workload.

 
UPDATED POLICY – Medical Practice Observation / Experience

Also at the January meeting, the Council considered the committee’s recommendations based on the stakeholder feedback that had been received.  The Council adopted the amended policy (formerly a guideline) with a sunset date of 5 years.

Highlights of the updated policy include:

• Fundamentally, the policy permits a broad eligibility to observe physicians in clinical settings.This includes international medical graduates, medical students, university undergraduate students and high school students. In general, the Council felt that the profession should be welcoming to those who want to learn more about it, provided there are appropriate limits in place and that patient safety and privacy/confidentiality are protected.
• The policy establishes parameters for the participation of observers; supervising physicians are expected to apply their judgment and discretion to determine what involvement is appropriate for individual observers within those parameters, and of course subject to patient consent.
• The policy distinguishes between curricular clinical activities of medical students (which do not fall within the policy) and non-curricular/co-curricular clinical activities which are subject to the policy.
• The policy clarifies that observers pursuant to this policy are not required to have any form of licensure with the CPSS, and the CPSS will not issue a licence for that purpose.
• Expectations of supervising physicians have been grouped according to time frame (i.e., requirements related to patient consent, requirements prior to permitting an observer to participate, requirements during an observer’s participation), focusing on items within the control of the supervising physician.