Manitoba pharmacists look to Alberta’s expansion of pharmacy care clinics as example

After Alberta announced it would be expanding pharmacy care clinics, pharmacists in Manitoba are looking at what such a project could mean for our own health care system.

An expanded role for pharmacists might help ease pressure on Manitoba’s health-care system, pharmacists say.

It’s a model being expanded in Alberta, and sees pharmacists take a more clinical approach by offering services through pharmacy care clinics. “Alberta has been a leader in terms of pharmacy scope of practice for more than a decade now,” said Tim Smith, a pharmacy practice advisor with Pharmacists Manitoba.

Right now, at the Medicine Shoppe on Osborne Street, pharmacist Jason Hoeppner prepares medications for his patients, but sometimes, he can’t help as much as he’d like.

“Where a medication isn’t available, rather than having to go back to the doctor or nurse practitioner to get a change, you know, pharmacists can do that on their own and sort of save everybody some time and paperwork,” he said.

Provincial regulation sets out what pharmacists can and can’t do, meaning their reach can vary between provinces.

Hoeppner says in Manitoba, he can’t fully exercise his training.

“It’s a little bit frustrating because we know sort of what needs to be done, but we can’t do it. We don’t have the authority right now,” he said. “It’s frustrating to train at a certain level and then not be able to practice at that level when you enter practice.”

Smith said Hoeppner’s concerns are not uncommon. “We’ve got one of the best programs in the country, or perhaps in the continent here, and we’re not allowing them to practice what they’ve been trained to (do),” he said.