The last few years has seen our profession expand to greater heights and opportunities to practice than at any previous point in our modern history. It was not long ago that pharmacists were seen as only dispensers of medications, a role that we have been seeking to expand for decades.
It seems that for pharmacy, change comes in waves. In 2009, we saw the beginnings of significant change when government introduced adaptations as a service pharmacists could perform, with the aim of improving patient health outcomes and medication adherence. The change also introduced prescription renewals for chronic conditions, reducing the number of trips patients needed to make to doctors’ clinics or emergency rooms.
The same year adaptations were introduced, the appearance of the H1N1 influenza pandemic spurred government to further enable pharmacists. Within months, injections training began, and hundreds of community pharmacists started administering H1N1 vaccines that were made available in October that year. It was also around this time, towards the end of the last pandemic, that our profession and government implemented medication review services. This service arrived in pharmacy in 2010 and has since continued to expand to become a core pharmacy clinical service British Columbians have come to expect.
Here we are in 2024, at the crest of another wave of changes in pharmacy and at the twilight of another pandemic. In the past two years, we have seen those adaptation powers expand to include prescription renewals for up to two years, with adaptations expanded to cover prescriptions for nearly any condition. Then came the arrival of minor ailment assessments and prescribing authority, which 90 per cent of community pharmacies offer today, and hundreds of thousands of British Columbians have now accessed. And yet more changes are coming.
By the time you read this, a further expansion to PPP-58 would have taken effect on Aug. 1 to again increase the scope for adaptations. Additionally, effective Aug. 30, 2024, pharmacists will be enabled to order lab tests for medication management. These changes mean even more options in the pharmacist’ toolbox.
Even more is coming through the concept of pharmacy clinics, an idea being explored in other places in Canada that has caught the attention of decision-makers here. These changes are colossal shifts that has changed how governments, the public and other health providers perceive our profession.
A pharmacist entering the profession today can make more out of their career than at any point in our past. As Chair of our Association and a member of the profession, I am so proud to be a part of the group working to make it happen.
Mike Huitema
President
BC Pharmacy Association