July 25, 2023 Town Hall: MACS Feedback

July 26, 2023

On July 25, the BC Pharmacy Association held an all-member town hall to gather feedback from pharmacists following nearly two months since the Minor Ailments and Contraception Service (MACS) was implemented in British Columbia on June 1.

At its peak, more than 450 members attended the town hall. As part of the town hall, the BCPhA conducted a series of polls to gauge the types of service members have provided since June 1. The results are below.

1. Have you done an assessment for minor ailments or contraception?

  • Minor ailments only - 27%
  • Contraception only - 2%
  • Both - 44%
  • Neither - 27%

2. What types of prescribing have you done for contraception?

  • Emergency contraception - 20%
  • Continuing or modifying an existing contraception - 20%
  • Initiating a new prescription for contraception - 4%
  • Both emergency contraception and continuing/modifying existing contraception - 22%
  • All of the above - 33%

3. In terms of education, which of the following supports have you found most valuable?

  • MedSask guidelines & Updated documentation templates - 41%
  • BCPhA's Removing Barriers to Support Expanded Scope e-training - 2%
  • The College's mandatory regulation training module - 3%
  • UBC's prescribing for fundamentals course - 9%
  • All have been valuable - 32%
  • Unsure - 13%

4. Are you using the Medsask guidelines and documentation templates?

  • Using the guidelines only - 32%
  • Using both the guidelines and documentation templates - 59%
  • Not using the medsask guidelines at all - 9%

5. In your experience are you seeing more patients as walk-ins or who make an appointment?

  • Walk-ins - 91%
  • Appointments - 9%

If you missed the town hall and would like access to a recording, please download the recording from the link below.