REPORTS
from Council
Approved policy states expectations
of physicians regarding job actions
C
ouncil has approved a policy that specifies College
expectations for physicians
who may be contemplating and/or
undertaking job actions. The policy
was returned to Council after it was
circulated for external consultation.
This is a brief overview
of the discussions and
decisions made at the
March Council meeting.
The policy, Providing Physician
Services During Job Actions states
that before embarking on any job
action, physicians must consider
whether a withdrawal of services
is contrary to their professional
responsibilities. If they decide
that it is not contrary and proceed
to a job action, physicians must
mitigate the adverse impact of the
withdrawal on patients and/or the
public. The policy specifies that
during a job action, physicians are
expected to provide medical care
in those instances that is urgent,
or otherwise necessary to prevent
harm, suffering and/or deterioration. This will include ensuring
health-care concerns are assessed
and appropriately triaged so that
urgent and/or necessary medical
care can be obtained.
Council noted that the feedback
provided during the consultation
was thoughtful and contributed
significantly to the final product.
The policy is attached to page 19 of
this issue of Dialogue, and is on our
website at www.cpso.on.ca.
We also have an article about the
policy on page 19.
Physicians’ Relationships with
Commercial Enterprises
Council has approved the draft
policy Physicians’ Relationships
with Industry: Practice, Education and Research for circulation.
We want to hear what you have
to say about the document which
articulates our guidance in helping
you manage your relationships with
industry appropriately.
The document provides guidance
on the following topics: clinical
practice, continuing medical education/continuing professional development, consultation or advisory
boards/investigator meetings; and
industry-sponsored research.
DIALOGUE • Issue 1, 2014
13