Canadian Pharmacists Association says 2023 is set to be an important year due to drug shortages

In a year when pharmacists have stickhandled children’s drug shortages and an extra-busy flu shot season, you’d think they might balk at the news in Ontario and B.C. that their prescriptive powers are being expanded.

Yet those in the field say the added responsibilities may make their jobs more fulfilling — so long as the changes are accompanied with appropriate funding.

“Pharmacies are trying to do a lot with limited resources,” said Danielle Paes, chief pharmacist officer at the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

“Appropriate funding is a key part of ensuring that these expanded services are not only sustainable but utilized by the public.”

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and family doctor shortages, pharmacists have seen their roles in the health-care system recognized by governments and the public like never before, Paes said. They’ve become key points of contact for everything from COVID-19 vaccinations to renewing some drug prescriptions.

At the same time, the triple-threat of COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, is taking its toll on staffing levels, while shortages of children’s pain and fever medication prompted some pharmacies to keep new shipments behind the counter last month to limit hoarding by fearful parents.

“It’s been a really big year,” Paes said.

Amid the shortage of children’s pain and fever medications, pharmacists in Alberta were able to compound alternative remedies, mixing the same active ingredients together that are sold in manufactured products. They could then do patient assessments and prescribe the products, she said.

In other provinces, the process was complicated by requiring doctors to issue the prescriptions or seeking regulatory changes through Health Canada to allow pharmacists to write the scripts, she said.