Expanding prescribing authority for British Columbia

I was talking about “New legislation that expands pharmacist role in Alberta, Canada…” in my previous blog post, here you go, British Columbia, Canada, is also introducing something similar. In September 2007, the council of the College of Pharmacists of British columbia (CPBC) approved a protocol to guide pharmacists in medication management.

This protocol, which is similar to the first stage in Alberta, states that BC pharmacists may adjust a prescription “if the action is intended to optimize the therapeutic outcome of the treatment with the prescribed drug” and other protocol conditions are met. These include individual competence, adequate information, patient consent, documentation of the change and notification of the original prescriber as soon as possible. Marnie Mitchell, chief executive officer of the British Columbia Pharmacy association (BCPhA), expresses that they are very enthusiastic about it and supportive… She thinks that this is an important step forward in the expansion of pharmacist’s authority in the province, as BC pharmacists already have the authority to provide emergency prescription drug supplies for some time. The college will be creating a new legislation program for pharmacists who wish to adapt prescription under the protocol. I don’t know how other pharmacists take this change, but I would take it as a challenge and improve patient care in my daily practice.

Being registered pharmacists in Ontario, I am looking forward to hearing some good news like this here in our near future.