ACP has developed Standards of Practice for Continuing Competence (SPCC). Development of the standards became necessary when the Government of Alberta passed the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2020 (No. 2), also known as Bill 46, which amended the Health Professions Act. The amendments move authority for regulatory colleges’ continuing competence programs (CCPs) from regulations to standards of practice. This provides colleges more flexibility to ensure the CCPs remain relevant to contemporary practice.
Regulated members were invited to review the draft standards and provide feedback to ACP during a 60-day consultation period in the summer of 2022. ACP considered the feedback received and made minor revisions to the draft standards, which were approved by Council at its September 2022 meeting.
The SPCC establish the structure of the CCPs for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, including requirements of regulated members, and will take effect March 31, 2023.
What’s changed?
There are no changes to the CCPs themselves—the programs remain the same. However, the current CCP rules and CCP guide documents for both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will be replaced by CCP manuals for each profession. The manuals will include content from both the rules and guide documents in a condensed and easier-to-use format. The manuals are available now in the program resources section of the CCP requirements webpage.
