It’s been just over a month since the provincial government rolled out sweeping changes to the powers given to pharmacists and what they can treat.
Now, they’re taking appointments and can prescribe medication for more than 20 different minor ailments.
Over the past month, the BC Pharmacy Association says about 25,000 people have been assessed. Association President Chris Chiew, a long-time pharmacist at London Drugs, says things are going well, but admits there is a staffing shortage. That’s in addition to the ongoing doctor and nurse staffing crunch facing B.C.’s broken healthcare system.
He tells CityNews a new round of grads will find out this month if they’re licensed and hopes that will help address any staffing gap.
“I feel that will further help improve that access as well,” explained Chiew.
Having more pharmacists behind the counter, the association head says, will be critical to handle patient care in the fall when cold and flu season kicks in.
“Obviously during the summertime, everybody is outdoors and in outdoor environments, you don’t see as many different types of minor ailment cases come in. Come the fall when people are back together and back to school, we definitely will be able to take care, I believe in terms of number of pharmacists that are graduating this summer, that we should have the manpower to be able to take care of what comes for us in the fall,” he said.
Chiew says since the beginning of the changes, pharmacists have been incredibly busy, and credits expanded pharmacy hours for being able to treat more people.
“On day one, we actually had 10 people come in after 7 p.m. in a smaller community because the fact they had difficulty accessing care after that time. All 10 reported… being able to deal with their pharmacist, get the prescription they needed and resolve their symptoms,” explained Chiew, who adds this access is a big deal for the roughly one million people who don’t have access to a family doctor.
“We also had another story where on June 1st there was a patient that had difficulties with minor eczema that was on her face and was waiting outside the pharmacy before store opening. Was able to get the treatment from her pharmacist and it resolved within three days.
“We actually had 10 people come in after 7 p.m. in a smaller community because the fact they had difficulty accessing care after that time.”
He says it’s no secret B.C.’s healthcare system is overwhelmed and being able to go to a pharmacy for help is critical to keep patients out of clogged-up urgent care centres and emergency departments.
Chiew says once a patient is seen, pharmacists will check in three days later to see how they’re doing and to assess if they need to go to another medical professional.
You can go to some local drugstores for help or book an appointment online to see a pharmacist for issues like mild acne, period pain, shingles, urinary tract infections, among others.
source & photo : CityNews
