On November 12, Neighbourhood Pharmacies responded officially to the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacy's open consultation on their draft Pharmacy Staffing Level policy and the planned implementation of their StaffWISE Tool and Staffing Score. The proposed policy outlines how pharmacy owners/managers must establish and implement a staffing plan to achieve a required staffing score ratio of 1 (staff hours over volume of work).
Our feedback highlights the following concerns:
- Transparency regarding evidence of harm and calculation of the Staffing Score
- Flexibility to respond to diversity and growth of patient healthcare needs
- Timing of policy implementation on current environment of pharmacy workforce shortages
- Impact on evolution of Community Pharmacy Primary Care Clinics
- Pharmacy operator business autonomy and decision-making