News

Caring for Patients in a Pandemic

These are extraordinary times, giving rise to many questions from physicians about their ongoing responsibilities. We wish to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of physicians around the province. 

We encourage physicians to review CMPA’S COVID-19  guidance which provides a succinct outline of the CMPA’s expectations of physicians, including:

“Despite the challenging conditions of a pandemic/catastrophic event, physicians will be expected to continue to act professionally on behalf of their patients.”

The College understands that physicians know to exercise sound professional judgement when caring for their patients in the midst of this pandemic. As such, the College expects reasonable measures to be undertaken to minimize risk and maximize your ability to help patients. These measures might include altering your schedule regarding patient encounters, increasing your use of phone or virtual consultations, and limiting physical examinations only to the most necessary.

Physicians considering the closure of practice must adhere to the College Standards on Temporarily or Permanently Closing a Medical Practice and Reducing the Size of a Medical Practice.

The College wishes to thank all physicians who are called upon during this pandemic.  We ask that you use your professional judgement to stay well while caring for your patients.

College Office Closure

The College is following public health recommendations and as such our office location is closed. All essential services are being provided remotely by College staff. Essential services include:  licensing physicians, addressing complaints, and responding to imminent patient safety concerns. We are monitoring phone messages and email inquiries.  We appreciate your patience in responding to your inquiry. For updated information from the College follow us on Twitter or check the College’s news section.

COVID-19 Prescribing

Across the province, doctors are providing excellent care and meaningful leadership during these challenging and extraordinary times. 

The Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Strang, is overseeing our public health response. He has asked the College to directly communicate to physicians on an important matter. 

In support of our Chief Medical Officer, and pursuant to the advice of our experts in Infectious Diseases, please be advised that, effective immediately:

Only physicians recognized as specialists in Infectious Disease may prescribe or initiate treatment with lopinavir/ritonavir (Kaletra), and/or hydroxychloroquine. Patients already taking these medications may be maintained on their regime by their regularly prescribing physician

This restriction supplements the approach adopted by the College of Pharmacists, which has instructed its pharmacists not to dispense these medications. 

We all need to work together.  Each of us has a role to play in keeping Nova Scotians safe. Thank you to the tremendous work of physicians working on the front lines to do just that.

Message from the Registrar Regarding COVID-19

(The following was published in the Chronicle Herald March 14, 2020)

These are nervous times. As we await the first case of COVID-19 in our province, fear and confusion could easily overwhelm us. There are, however, important reminders and reassurances to offset our anxiety.

Unlike many other countries affected by this pandemic, Canada has a robust public health system. In Nova Scotia, we have the necessary expertise and infrastructure to respond well to this challenge.

It is now time to rely on expertise. We must summon the discipline to resist the inexpert advice that is abundantly available through any number of unreliable information sources. Those of us who are not experts must be careful to avoid offering opinions. If our province’s response to the inevitable arrival of COVID-19 is going to be effective, it is incumbent on all to follow the advice of our public health experts. They are providing the leadership; it is our responsibility to follow.

First and foremost, we must embrace the common-sense recommendations from the experts. Wash your hands, well and often. Resist or limit touching your face with your hands. Disinfect surfaces. Observe social distancing. Avoid large, close gatherings. If you can, work from home. If you are sick, do not go into work. If returning from travel, observe the self-isolation recommendations. These measures might seem small and inconsequential in the face of a pandemic. The experts tell us otherwise.

Patients are encouraged to pursue advice from 811. This service provides important triage, directing patients to the appropriate next step. By bypassing 811 and pursuing direct care or in-person advice, patients put the community at risk, the health professionals themselves at risk, and threaten to overwhelm the system. Bypassing the simple step of calling 811 might heighten the problem and weaken the collective response.

Patients should not worry about their medications. The College of Pharmacists and the province will have contingency plans in place, allowing for access to prescription medications in the event that some pharmacies need to close.

Although there is appropriate concern that a rapid outbreak may overwhelm our health-care physical and human resources, physician mobility will not be an issue in our country’s response to the pandemic. The College has activated its business continuity plan to ensure the licensing of physicians will continue to be carried out in a thorough and timely manner. 

With respect to emergency medical licensing, the provincial colleges have reached a consensus. Nova Scotian physicians seeking to help in pandemic response in other provinces may do so without hassle. Similarly, physicians from other provinces wishing to support our local response can be licensed on an emergent basis immediately. Physicians recently retired in Nova Scotia wishing to participate in the pandemic response should contact the College to determine if their licences can be reinstated for this purpose. Physicians travelling to respond to the pandemic elsewhere in the country should be aware that their liability coverage will remain in place. 

The College is aware that the Medical Council of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the College of Family Physicians of Canada all are contemplating making changes to their examination schedules. The licensure of physicians in training and provisionally licensed physicians will not be affected by any examination changes. They will be maintained in provisional licensure.

The situation is fluid. Both physicians and patients are well advised to stay current with the latest developments of the pandemic through public health at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/. 

The Nova Scotia Health Authority is maintaining active updates at: www.nshealth.ca/news. It is also providing information regarding COVID-19 assessment centres at: www.nshealth.ca/coronavirus.

Nova Scotians are good at preparing for storms. We heed the weather warnings. We batten down the hatches. We stay safe. We do the right things. I am confident we can apply this approach to COVID-19.

Dr. Gus Grant is registrar & CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia.

Important Notice to Physicians in Training or any Physicians Scheduled to Challenge Examinations

The College has been advised that the Medical Council of Canada, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada, and the College of Family Physicians of Canada have postponed their examinations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you are registered for one of these examinations, be assured that this will not negatively affect your medical licensure.

If you are provisionally licensed at present, your provisional licensure will be extended.

If you are the end of training, and contemplating independent practice, you will be considered eligible for provisional licensure.

If you have any questions please contact the College’s Registration Department at: registration@cpsns.ns.ca.

Call for Public Representative to the College’s Governing Council

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia is seeking an individual to serve as a public representative on the governing Council. The College regulates the practice of medicine in Nova Scotia and serves the public interest. The candidate cannot be a physician (either at present or formerly).

The successful candidate will be asked to represent the public perspective regarding the regulation of the medical profession. This includes speaking to the power imbalances between physicians and their patients or members of the public.

In assessing public representatives, the Nominating Committee will consider a broad range of characteristics including the following:

• Open-mindedness
• Knowledge of position, familiarity with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia
• Reason for application
• Understanding of “public interest” and role of the position
• Ability to devote the time required to the position
• Experience with community volunteer activities
• Diversity

Read the role description and requirements for council members.

If interested, please forward a cover letter and resume no later than Friday, March 6, 2020 to:

Nominating Committee
c/o Carolyn MacDonald, Manager, Registrar’s Office
cmacdonald@cpsns.ns.ca
College of Physicians & Surgeons of Nova Scotia
Suite 400 – 175 Western Parkway
Bedford, NS   B4B 0V1
Fax:  902-422-7476

Notice Regarding Attendance and Reporting at the Hearing Regarding Dr. Manivasan Moodley

The following directions have been issued by the Hearing Panel subsequent to the hearing of a motion brought by the College on February 14, 2020.  The motion was brought to address various concerns, including the upholding of the publication ban respecting the identities of the complainants.  The full reasons for these directions will be set out in a decision to be rendered by the Hearing Panel at a later date. 

The  Hearing Panel directs as follows:

1.  In accordance with a publication ban granted on October 24, 2019, the names and all information that may identify the complainants in this matter are banned from any form of publication or disclosure;

2.  The media are permitted to attend the hearing scheduled to commence on February 24 at 0930 at the offices of the College.  In addition, individuals such as family members who are identified by legal counsel for Dr. Moodley or the complainants as their support for the hearing,  are permitted to attend the hearing.

3.  Individuals apart from those identified above are not permitted to attend the hearing but will have full access to any decisions of the Hearing Panel, subject to the publication ban.

4.  For those permitted to attend the hearing, the following will apply:

a.  Subject to the publication ban, the media may take video footage or photographs on the College’s premises before evidence is called.  No video images or photography may be taken while evidence is being presented.

b. Audio recording by the media is permitted for note-taking purposes, but not for broadcast purposes.

c.   In order to uphold the publication ban, no live transmission of the evidence is permitted, through live tweeting, blogging or any other simultaneous source of reporting. Media are otherwise permitted to report information about the hearing, but only after the parties have had an opportunity to consider whether any evidence presented may be subject to the publication ban. During the mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks, and prior to the lunch break and end of the day, the Hearing Panel will canvass the parties to determine if there is evidence that may be subject to the publication ban and will provide direction to the media in this regard prior to the media reporting on the preceding evidence.

5.  Those attending the hearing will be required to sign in and acknowledge agreement with these directions.

6. Inquiries about the hearing should be directed to:

Pattie LaCroix, Director, Communications & Policy
902-421-2212, placroix@cpsns.ns.ca
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia
Suite 400-175 Western Parkway, Bedford, NS B4B 0V1

Notice of Hearing on Motion – Dr. Manivasan Moodley

The College will bring a motion to be heard by the Hearing Panel on Friday, February 14, at 2 pm at the offices of the College (400 – 175 Western Parkway, Bedford) to seek a partial exclusion order in accordance with clause 109(2)(a) of the Medical Practitioners’ Regulations. The relevant portions of the regulations read as follows: 

Attendance at hearing and publication bans

109    (1)    Except as provided in subsections (2) or (3), a hearing is open to the public.

          (2)    At the request of a party, a hearing committee may order that the public, in whole or in part, be excluded from a hearing or any part of it if a hearing committee is satisfied that any of the following apply:

                   (a)      personal, medical, financial or other matters that may be disclosed at the hearing are of such a nature that avoiding public disclosure of those matters in the interest of the public or any person affected outweighs adhering to the principle that hearings should be open to the public;

                   (b)     the safety of any person may be jeopardized by permitting public attendance.

          (3)    A hearing committee may make an order that the public be excluded from a part of a hearing that deals with a request for an order to exclude the public in whole or in part under subsection (2).

Council Elections – Districts 2 & 5

Call for Nominations

The election of councillors for the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Nova Scotia in 2020 is required in the following electoral districts:

Please submit your nomination form and biography to the Office of the Registrar no later than 4 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2020.

Office of the Registrar
400 – 175 Western Parkway
Bedford, NS, B4B 0V1

College Statement: In response to recent events regarding Dr. M. Moodley

A Hearing Committee of the College will soon consider allegations of professional misconduct and incompetence against Dr. Manivasan Moodley. The allegations were advanced by two women, each of whom alleges sexual wrongdoing against them by Dr. Moodley.

Dr. Moodley is a provisionally licensed physician who has not successfully challenged his Medical Council of Canada examinations. The law requires provisionally licensed physicians to have sponsorship and supervision, without which they cannot practice medicine.

Dr. Moodley’s sponsor gave notice he was withdrawing sponsorship. Since that notice was provided, an alternate sponsor has come forward, acceptable to the College. As such, Dr. Moodley may remain in practice.

There has been significant public and professional response, including demonstrations, media interviews, and social media activity. The tone of much of the response has been angry, variously directed at a misunderstanding of the College’s processes and at the women who have filed complaints.

The College is concerned that the nature of the response will jeopardize the fairness of the proceedings going forward and harm the complainants.

“Outrage towards women who come forward alleging sexual misconduct is exactly why sexual misconduct is under-reported,” says Dr. Gus Grant, Registrar of the College. “Dr. Moodley is owed and will receive due process. At the same time, the complainants are owed privacy, safety and freedom from intimidation. Given the nature of public and social media postings, they understandably feel threatened, and see the support of Dr. Moodley as a response against them.”

There is a role for physicians to speak out, particularly on issues as central to the medical profession as fairness. The College welcomes the balanced, informed and thoughtful participation of physicians in public discourse. When choosing to make public comment on this or other such matters, the College encourages physicians to consider the well-being of all involved.