In the last issue of Full Scale, we introduced you to ACP’s new Standards of Practice for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians (SPPPT). In this issue, we turn the spotlight to the new Standards for the Operation of Licensed Pharmacies (SOLP). Council approved both sets of standards in June 2024, to come into effect on February 1, 2025.
“Like the SPPPT, the SOLP were long overdue for a refresh,” said Jeff Whissell, ACP’s Deputy Registrar. “The current standards don’t create opportunities for pharmacy technicians, especially in the operation of licensed pharmacies. There were also concepts in the current standards that we found to be dated, like supervision requirements. We were also seeing more collaboration through having different types of healthcare providers working in pharmacies and different types of pharmacy environments, for that matter. So, the standards needed to evolve to support those things.”
The new SOLP are written to support all regulated members in the operation of licensed pharmacies and to ensure that proprietors support licensees with the environment and resources they need. With that in mind, Jeff says that licensees—pharmacists who are issued the pharmacy licence and ultimately responsible for the operation of the pharmacy—are the key audience for the new SOLP.
“Licensees play an important leadership role in the profession of pharmacy, and they play that role in service to Albertans and patients themselves. We were inspired by that,” said Jeff. “These standards reflect that leadership role and are written to support licensees and continue to inspire those values that licensees hold dear in providing care to Albertans.”
As with the new SPPPT, the new SOLP are organized into domains. Each domain includes a collection of outcome standards—what the regulated member is trying to achieve—with accompanying descriptive standards that provide regulated members direction about how to achieve the desired outcome. Just like the new SPPPT, at the core of the new SOLP is person-centred care.
“The current standards are written in a very technical way, focusing on the facility,” said Monty Stanowich, ACP’s Policy Lead and Compliance Officer. “There is still precision where precision is required in the new standards. But, like the new SPPPT, these standards focus on being person centred. In other words, the reason these technical requirements exist is because of the patient. For example, there is a requirement that a pharmacy dispensary must be 18 square metres. This is because, in a smaller space, it becomes difficult to appropriately provide patient care. So, we tried to create those links. The standards are written in a way so regulated members won’t forget that no matter what they’re talking about operationally, they always keep the patient in mind and that what they’re doing is going to affect how care is provided.”
There are several changes within the new SOLP that will allow pharmacy teams to focus on their strengths while providing optimal care to their patients. Among the changes is no longer requiring all licensed pharmacies to include space and equipment for Level A compounding.
“We heard from many regulated members that they struggle to provide compounding services from their pharmacies, even the most basic compounding,” said Jeff. “So, we’ve changed the requirements such that they still need to provide patients access to compounding services, but those services can be acquired from another pharmacy that holds a compounding and repackaging licence, so they don’t need to do it themselves.”
As a result, pharmacy teams could spend more of their time providing clinical care while also ensuring patients have access to quality compounded products.
The new SOLP also accommodate the integration of other regulated health professionals—who are not pharmacists or pharmacy technicians—into the pharmacy team.
“This is something that’s been going on for quite a while, but there was a lack of clarity about when the other health professional is part of the team or whether they have a separate independent practice. The new standards address that problem,” said Monty. “In some cases, shared premises arrangements exist where a physician has their own separate practice and office adjacent to a pharmacy. Other times, a nurse or another health professional works directly as part of the pharmacy team. The new SOLP provide direction to make sure that when other health professionals are part of the pharmacy team, their role is documented in the pharmacy policies and procedures. They must work under the oversight of the licensee and document their work in the pharmacy record in a way that the entire pharmacy team can see it. The pharmacy then owns and manages the complete record.”
“We recognized that licensees didn’t have the support they needed to be successful when they took on the role,” said Jeff. “They were entering positions without the resources to be successful, or to understand the college’s expectations and the expectations of Albertans.
The new SOLP were introduced in concert with other recent initiatives at ACP, including the Licensee Competencies Framework, the recently re-launched Licensee and Proprietor Education Programs, and the Professionalism Framework. These documents and programs are complementary, with the ultimate goal of benefitting Albertans. These pieces, including the new SOLP, will support licensees and enable them to lead their team and be successful. I’m excited. I think these standards are going to be a great step forward. I look forward to working with licensees as they implement these standards.”
