Middlesex London News

Chronic Benzene Exposure

From Ontario Health, for clinicians who want to investigate any hematological malignancies associated with chronic airborne benzene exposure. Memo to primary care | What you need to know

Community Paramedicine Patient Care Standards (CPPCS) Version 2.4 Update

On October 1, 2024, an updated version of the Middlesex-London Paramedic Service (MLPS) Community Paramedicine Patient Care Standards (CPPCS) is scheduled to be released as an amendment to the effective date of the current version. Five directives have been reviewed and updated and two new directives have been approved for implementation. Read about the changes in this MLPS memo.

NOTE: Existing primary care provider sign-offs will be applied to the updated version unless the MLPS Community Paramedicine program is informed otherwise by the authorizing primary care provider.

Interested in learning more about Community Paramedicine?

For a description of the program and for a referral form, visit this page:

https://lmprimarycare.ca/community-paramedicine/

Patient Care

For family physicians: expansion of the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) to people ages 40 to 49

Starting October 8, 2024, OBSP will begin offering breast cancer screening to people ages 40 to 49. Anyone between ages 40 to 74 will be able to self-refer to the program. This FAQ and primary care letter for family physicians and primary care nurse practitioners provide detailed information regarding the changes.

Learn more:

1. Provincial webinar

• Friday, September 13, 2024 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.: Register here
• Thursday, October 10, 2024 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.: Register here

You will receive an invitation by email after you register.

2. OCFP virtual Community of Practice - October 18. Details to come.

Please feel free to contact obsp_pd@ontariohealth.ca with any questions.

COVID-19 - for Fall 2024

COVID-19: Vaccines, Treatments and Testing Summary Information for Family Physicians- OCFP, August 2024

Pneumococcal Vaccine Changes

Public Health is now only offering Prevnar 20 as the pneumococcal vaccine provided to Primary Care offices based on updated guidance from PHO, NACI and MOH. 

These two documents summarize the changes in detail:

• From PHO/NACI (what is approved/recommended)
• From MOH (what is publicly funded)

Those eligible in the first document but not in the second (i.e.,18-49 y.o.at high risk, who already had Pneumovax or Prevnar 13) can still be offered Prevnar 20 but not from publicly funded supply. You will need to write an Rx for them.

Updated PS Suite EMR Reminders reflecting criteria for the publicly funded eligibility are found here. Not all criteria can be added to a search, so consider the patient in front of you. You may need to modify these reminders to match your labelling in your own EMR instance. 

Updated eConsult and eReferral Lists in the South West

eConsult | eReferral

National Dementia Guidelines for disclosing a diagnosis

From the Alzheimer's Society: a toolkit, detailed report, and infographic to help you communicate a dementia diagnosis more effectively.

Updated Quality Standard

From Ontario Health: Heavy Menstrual Bleeding - updated quality standard, placemat, and patient guide.

Extended: Ontario Health Secure Messaging pilot

There’s still time for you to participate in a two-year patient-to-physician Secure Messaging Proof-of-Concept pilot led by the province. The pilot runs to March 31, 2026. Registration extended to October 31, 2024. More information: visit the Ontario Health website.

Free Patient Self Management Groups

Health System News

Ontario Primary Care Council

August 2024 highlights. Includes info on Primary Care Networks.

CME Events for Fall 2024

New CME opportunities added to our website: https://lmprimarycare.ca/education-opportunities/

Includes the following:

Coming Soon: Provincial HPV Testing- webinar by Drs. DiCecco and Gill (SW Regional Cancer Program) and Dr. Roth (Central East Regional Cancer Program); September 13, 12:30-1:30 pm. See this poster for more.

Incorporating a Palliative Care Approach into your Primary Care Practice-

Webinar from Project ECHO, October 9, 12:00-1:00 pm. Presented by Dr. Erin Gallagher (family physician, Palliative Care Consultant for McMaster FHT and Hamilton Health Sciences Hospitals, Ontario Health West Physician Clinical Co-Lead for Palliative Care). See this poster for more.