Update to CSPCP Board of Directors

Items deferred from Feb 9, 2015

Submitted for discussion on March 9, 2015

By Kim Taylor, Executive Director

Item numbers correspond with those from the Feb 9th Agenda.

Agenda Item 3.0 Education

  • Partner meeting – Undergraduate Education

We are pleased to report that on February 2, 2015, the CSPCP held a partners' meeting with the representatives from the CMA, the Medical Council of Canada, PalliumCanada, and the Technology Evaluation in the Elderly Network (TVN). The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the importance of palliative medical education at the undergraduate level.The partners were very supportive andall of them committed to take action.

  • The CMA representative stated that palliative care is a priority for their organization. They offered to bring palliative care forward as a possible topic for accreditation. They will also see if their Professional Education and Development working group, which looks at the interface between clinical and teaching, could look at palliative care as a topic.
  • The Medical Council of Canada (Education Bureau) invited the CSPCP to identify palliative care physicians to work with MCC committees to assist with LMCC examination content. They are currently revising exam content so timing is very good.
  • Pallium Canada will be developing a "LEAP for undergraduates" course in 2015. They will develop an "undergraduate basket" of objects for schools can choose from if they wish
  • The Technology Evaluation in the Elderly Network (TVN) has a high degree of interest in our work.The are considering funding some the activities we hope to undertake in fall 2015.
  • The CSPCP will continue to implement the undergraduate education action plan; to look for financial and in-kind support; and to communicate & engage with partners. Additionally, we will propose palliative care as a plenary topic for a future CCME conference (and failing that, we'll submit an abstract), and we will ensue that educational capacity is included when we begin developing a Palliative Medicine Workforce Plan for Canada. We anticipate that workforce planning will begin in the Fall of 2015, following release of the national Palliative Medicine Survey results at the Advanced Learning in Palliative Medicine Conference in Calgary on May 28, 2015.

Agenda Item 4.0 Advocacy & Partnerships

  • Partner meeting – HR Survey & Workforce Planning
  • Susan, Doris, Dave, Kim, and Anne Boyle met with representatives from the CMA, CFPC, and RoyalCollege to review preliminary results of the national Palliative Medicine Survey and to plan next steps
  • The next round of analysis is underway
  • Reports will be ready in time for the launch at the conference
  • Partners shared their experiences and recommendations for workforce planning. PalliumCanada joined us for this portion of the meeting.
  • Brief Updates
  • CMA Seniors’ strategy – engagement continues
  • Dave is on the National Seniors Strategy Physician Advisory Panel
  • Stephanie Connidis represented us at a meeting on Feb18th re levers to use with the federal government
  • CMA draft policy on palliative care
  • Reviewed by exec; needs significant editing
  • CSPCP submitted written input
  • Doris, Dave, Susan and Kim met with CMA ethicist Melody Isinger, who wrote the first draft of the policy. CSPCP is putting together some additional materials to help Melody with the next draft.
  • Kim approached CMA about having Monica Branigan join CMA Ethics Committee discussions re the End of Life policy. Offer accepted. Meeting is in late April. Monica was also invited to discussions about assisted dying.
  • QELCCC meeting
  • Dave and Kim attended on behalf of CSPCP (Dave = Education, Kim = Advocacy)
  • Federal election kit has been developed for all QELCCC members to use
  • Specialist Forum meeting
  • Susan attended
  • Main topic of conversation was the Seniors strategy. Palliative care mentioned as a priority. Conjoint forum reviewed information sharing and consultation programs between family medicine and specialists.
  • College of Family Physicians Certificate of Added Competence
  • Dave was personally invited to join the CFPC Certificate of Added Competence Committee (not as a CSPC representative)
  • Kim has written to the CFPC (twice) offering the support of a CSPC representative. There has been no response.

Agenda Items 5.0 (Infrastructure & Operations) and 6.0 (Member Engagement)

  • New members in 2015 - 21
  • Membership renewals – 141 (of about 350 members) renewedby the official due date of March 1st. Reminders going out on March 10th.
  • Only 40% have renewed so far
  • Not unusual for people to be slow (or to wait and pay when they register for the conference) but it impacts our budget significantly as well as the strength of our voice
  • March ebrief will include a plea for renewals
  • Need to monitor - may need a campaign in April or May about renewals and new members
  • Summary of web site updates
  • Members’ area is up and running. Log in using the top right hand corner.
  • We can set up other private pages if desired – e.g., pages that only the Board can view. Your gives you access to all pages that you personally are allowed to view
  • Many new items posted including statements re CSPCP position, # of palliative care physicians in Canada
  • Coming soon: Access to Palliative Care – Dave’s response to Jocelyn Downie’s article in Health Law Review – being published shortly

Agenda Item 7.0 Financial Report - attached

  • 2014 Year End report attached
  • We budgeted for a deficit of $28,840 for 2014. Actual deficit was only $3,541. We are trying to negotiate a credit from Telus that would shrink the deficit even further.
  • The financial reports format has been improved to clearly show how grant money is being spent
  • Our bank balance was $53,000 at the end of 2014 and $45,000 at the end of January, 2015.
  • We plan to set $20,000 aside in a GIC (accessible if required).
  • Looking ahead to 2015: For the financial security of the Society, we need to increase our cash reserves during the coming year. The approved 2015 budget projects a deficit of $21,000, which we cannot afford. Dave and Kim will propose a revised 2015 budget to the Board in April, that projects a small surplus for 2015. A surplus is feasible given strong conference sponsorship and several confirmed project-specific grants. Kim will reduce her hours as needed to ensure a surplus budget at year end.