Pharmacy Connection
Dear Colleagues,
The past few months have been a busy and productive time for the College. From holding regional meetings across Ontario, to continuing the province-wide rollout of our Medication Safety Program, to developing and releasing Quality Indicators For Pharmacy, the College remains focused on supporting pharmacy professionals in providing safe and quality care that will enhance public confidence in
the profession.
Safety and quality were the focus of the discussion at the discussions at the regional meetings, which were held this year in Thunder Bay, Peterborough, Ottawa, Markham, Sudbury, Mississauga, London and Windsor. The College heard from many pharmacy professionals practising in the community, hospitals, as well as students about to embark on their careers.
As pharmacists and pharmacy technicians take on a greater role in a patient’s journey through the healthcare system, it’s vital that we have the ability to assess the impact of their work on health outcomes. Currently, there is no systematic way to measure the quality of pharmacy care or its impact. That’s why the College partnered with Health Quality Ontario and other health system stakeholders – including patients – to develop quality indicators for pharmacy that were launched on June 6 at the College’s Symposium on Quality Indicators for Pharmacy. For the first time, Ontario will be able to measure the contribution pharmacy professionals make to health outcomes and determine what more can be done to improve the quality of care.
Every day, pharmacy professionals work diligently to provide the best possible care to their patients. They use their knowledge to help people make informed choices about their health and provide a valuable service as healthcare providers who are easily accessible to patients.
The College also heard from pharmacy professionals about the Assurance and Improvement in Medication Safety (AIMS) Program, which is being rolled out in all community pharmacies across the province. This input gave the College valuable insight on how it can support pharmacy professionals by working to eliminate any barriers to recording medication incidents and near misses through the Pharmapod platform in a timely and efficient way. The progress of the program’s implementation remains very encouraging, and we expect all community pharmacies to be onboarded to the program by mid-summer.
Many regional meeting participants shared their experiences in encouraging pharmacy staff to feel comfortable and open in discussing medication incidents, why they happen and how they can be prevented. Participants provided excellent suggestions, such as senior pharmacists taking the lead and sharing what they learned from a medication error. It allows others to feel more comfortable opening up about their experiences.
Every day, pharmacy professionals work diligently to provide the best possible care to their patients. They use their knowledge to help people make informed choices about their health and provide a valuable service as healthcare providers who are easily accessible to patients.
As the provincial government moves forward to expand scope of practice, it will work with the College to ensure that pharmacy professionals have the knowledge, skills and judgment required to deliver safe care to patients across Ontario under expanded areas of care. More information will be available as this work proceeds during the coming months. It’s important that all pharmacy professionals continue to build their knowledge as we get closer to those changes.
There are many opportunities ahead to keep raising the bar on the practice of pharmacy in Ontario. I look forward to working with all of you to reach these goals. .
Yours in health,
Laura Weyland
RPh, BSc.Pharm
President
