New CPhA benchmark aims to teach Canadian what pharmacists can and can’t do in each province

As pharmacists’ scope of practice expands across Canada, there’s some confusion around what exactly pharmacists are able to do in which provinces. That’s why the Canadian Pharmacists’ Association (CPhA) has developed a new benchmark. “It’s a fairly succinct way for governments, the public and other healthcare providers to see exactly what the education pharmacists get out of their PharmD programs and when they are licensed to practice what they are capable and educated to do,” explains the CPhA’s executive vice president of public affairs Joelle Walker. Previously, the CPhA had published charts with checkmarks to denote what pharmacists can do in each province, but that was more of a tracking tool, Walker says, and not a summary of education. The new benchmark ensures that people know exactly what pharmacists know as well. The benchmark was developed through a consultation process, which saw the CPhA surveying the public, pharmacists, students and regulators. As a part of the consultations, the CPhA asked the public how comfortable they are with pharmacists performing certain tasks like providing vaccinations and chronic disease management. While the public was fairly comfortable with vaccinations (especially since people are used to having flu and COVID shots in pharmacies), they were less aware that pharmacists could perform other clinical tasks—just half of respondents said they would be comfortable receiving chronic disease management from a pharmacist. However, Parker explains, once they learned about what it is that pharmacists learn, that number “jumped quite a bit,” she says. “That helped us understand that we have a lot to do to help educate the public on the fact that scope has evolved a lot, and there is some room to help the public and governments better understand,” she says. The consultation also revealed that pharmacists are highly trusted health providers, on the same level as physicians. Which makes sense, Walker explains, since pharmacists are often the first contact with the healthcare system for most patients. “Were in a primary care crisis right now, so [these results] made it very obvious that we need to better educate everyone as to what pharmacists can provide,” Walker says. One of the goals of the benchmark is to show regulators what is being done in other provinces so that they can remove barriers to expanded scope and create new legislation to help pharmacists practice to their full education. Now, Walker says that the benchmark will be distributed around the country as posters in pharmacies and as an online resource where the public can learn more about what pharmacists do. As well, the CPhA wants to encourage people to write their local provincial representatives to call out laggard jurisdiction. “Pharmacy education evolves to meet different needs,” Walker says. “Maybe in five years, the benchmark will be even more comprehensive.”

New CPhA benchmark aims to teach Canadian what pharmacists can and can’t do in each province

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