Neighbourhood Pharmacies Responds to Consultation on Proposed Changes to Pharmacy Sector

On behalf of our member pharmacies across Ontario, we are providing considerations and recommendations regarding some of the proposed initiatives aimed at maximizing the role and contributions pharmacies and their teams can provide in connecting Ontarians to the right care in the right place at the right time. We have consulted with the Ontario Pharmacists Association and are aligned in our feedback

We have four specific recommendations:                     

1. Expand pharmacists’ ability to provide effective minor ailments services and authorize pharmacists to communicate the diagnosis of a minor ailment.
2. Increase pharmacists’ ability to order specific laboratory tests and perform additional point-of-care tests to support the assessment and management of minor ailments and chronic diseases.
3. Further enable community pharmacies to improve access to immunization services, by
   1. Authorizing pharmacy technicians to administer all vaccines authorized under the pharmacist’s scope of practice, and expanding the ability of pharmacy professionals to administer all routine vaccinations;
   2. Providing fair remuneration to pharmacy teams for administration of all publicly funded vaccines;
   3. Authorizing pharmacists to prescribe for all immunizations they are authorized to administer;
   4. Ensuring pharmacies have access to all publicly funded vaccines through existing pharmaceutical distributors; and by
   5. Enabling centralized immunization records.
4. Optimize medication review services delivered through pharmacies.