DOCTALK 2021 - Volume 8 Issue 3
October 2021

October 2021
By Dr. Olawale Igbekoyi, CPSS Council President

Council last met on the 18th & 19th of June 2021 and on the 17th & 18th of September 2021.  The next Council meeting is scheduled for the 19th & 20th of November 2021.  Meetings are now all held virtually through Webex. 
Agendas and Executive Summaries with information about the content of the open portion of Council meetings are available here.
 
Developing Better Communication with Patients
 

In June, Council approved the working group’s recommendation to support better communication with patients through a number of initiatives, including the preparation of education pieces for the CPSS website and Facebook page; identifying other organisations with shared mandates to help promote the CPSS; and identifying spaces where the public may gather to provide information about CPSS. The work is under way and will be completed in concert with the concurrent development of a new website and visual identity.
 
Clinical Care Assistance Program for Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

Council accepted and approved a request for an expansion of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Clinical Assistant program to Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert.
 
 
Mandatory COVID Vaccination
 

Council approved a statement in support of mandatory vaccination of all physicians as stipulated by the Ministry of Health and Saskatchewan Health Authority policies.
 
OAT Standards and Guidelines
 
Council elected to maintain the current requirement for the Registrar’s approval to prescribe methadone or buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder after meeting the requirements (i.e., education and direct training)
 
 
Virtual Option for Opioid Agonist Treatment Direct Training

During the pandemic, the CPSS developed and introduced an interactive virtual training option for those interested in training on prescribing Opioid Agonist Therapy. Council approved amendments to the policy Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) Prescribing and the Opioid Agonist Therapy Program Standards and Guidelines to accept an equivalence to direct training, as authorized by the College. 
 
 

    Dr. Olawale Franklin Igbekoyi is President (2021) of the Council of the College of Physicians  and Surgeons of Saskatchewan and a Family Physician practicing in Rosetown.