During the development of ACP’s new Standards of Practice for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians (SPPPT), the college received feedback from several groups at different stages. Once an early draft was created, ACP reached out to several regulated members and members of the public to form a group to review the standards and provide feedback.
The regulated members in the group included (among others)
- Olivia Haller, pharmacy technician working in community pharmacy and instructor with Robertson College in Calgary;
- Essi Salokangas, former program consultant with Alberta Health Services’ Provincial Addiction and Mental Health portfolio and current assistant clinical professor with the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta; and
- Dylan Moulton, former community pharmacy licensee and current assistant clinical professor with the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta.
We asked Olivia, Essi, and Dylan about their experiences working with the standards review group.
When ACP first reached out to you to participate in this review group, how did you feel?
Olivia
“I was honoured. ACP has always stood out to me because of their commitment to valuing the voices of pharmacy technicians, pharmacists, and Albertans. I cannot commend ACP enough for the way that they do this. I’m honoured to be one of those voices, and a part of the new standards.”
Dylan
“It was exciting to get a sneak peek into what the college was envisioning for the standards. I teach in the pharmacy program and therefore consider the standards and their application quite regularly. I was curious to see if the topics we are teaching in our programs, especially those regarding person-centred care and equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, were going to be reflected in the new standards.”
Why was it important to have pharmacy technicians and pharmacists reviewing the standards to make sure that all perspectives were represented?
Essi
“It’s essential that regulated members are included in the process. They hold the real-world experience and insights that bridge the gap between policy and practice, and that enriches the review process for everyone.”
Olivia
“No one understands the roles and duties of technicians like technicians do. I think it’s incredibly valuable for technicians to have a say about the standards that guide our practice to help ensure that they outline the high standard of patient care provided by both technicians and pharmacists, and that the full scopes of practice for both professions can be highlighted in the standards.”
What were you asked to do for this review?
Dylan
“We were tasked with going through the draft standards document. It was made clear to us that we didn’t have to provide feedback on all domains or standards but could instead focus on specific areas that were meaningful to us. I intentionally stayed away from areas that I didn’t feel I had a very strong perspective on or things that really weren’t a huge part of my practice.”
Olivia
“I did my review with a focus on practicality, safety, and ethics. I also considered best practices according to my 10 years of pharmacy experience. I made some notes of concerns or comments that I had about specific standards. We were able to have group sessions together as well to talk through our feedback.”
Considering your role, was there a particular lens that you looked through during your review?
Essi
“I focused primarily on ensuring that the standards were person centred and support high-quality care. I also consciously tried to consider how the standards aligned with the broad range of clinical spaces and practices that I’ve had the opportunity to work in, such as community, outreach, and acute care.”
Dylan
“There were two different lenses that I looked through at the time. When I was asked to review, I was still managing and practising full time in a community pharmacy. I worked very closely with equity-deserving groups and wanted to be sure when I was reviewing these standards, that I was seeing my patients reflected in the document. I also tried to use an educational lens. Restructuring the standards into domains aligns very closely with a lot of the competencies that we teach in our pharmacy programs, so I was pleased to see alignment there.”
What do you find most meaningful to you in the new standards?
Essi
“I appreciate how person focused it was. The first domain includes intentional consideration of equity, diversity, and inclusion; cultural sensitivity; trauma-informed care; and harm reduction. I think this new structure will support pharmacists to meaningfully consider the distinct health needs of their patients and the impact of social determinants of health. This will hopefully support a more robust response to health inequities.”
Dylan
“If you review Appendix E, the patient record requirements, you’ll see that it is inclusive of information like a patient’s ‘preferred name’ and ‘pronouns.’ In my opinion, this is a massive step in the right direction and supports the person-centred approach of the standards. It showcases that our profession recognizes the importance of a patient’s identity and that by appropriately collecting and using this information, we can foster and support better patient-pharmacist or patient-pharmacy technician relationships.”
Did you feel that the group was able to contribute to the final product?
Dylan
“I do. Most of my recommendations were centred around the intent of certain sections and why a pharmacist would need access to certain information. Does the response to the question provide us with information we need to complete an assessment? Or are we using the response from one question to make an assumption about something else? I was pleased when I reviewed the approved standards and noticed that a lot of the recommendations I made appear to have been adopted.”
How do you think these standards will benefit regulated members once they take effect?
Olivia
“The new standards include links to the appropriate legislation and other standards so regulated members can easily refer to them. That makes our life easier for sure. They also highlight the full scopes of practice both technicians and pharmacists. They allow regulated members to focus more on patient care rather than logistics.”
Dylan
“The new layout supports regulated members in understanding the rationale for the standard that they’re currently looking at. It’s helpful to be able to find a standard, read it, and then look up at the domain to recentre yourself to the foundational competency. You can make sure you’re interpreting the standard in the way that it’s intended to be interpreted, and that you’re not overthinking or underthinking how it will impact your practice.
In the end, the Code of Ethics should always be the foundation for the care we provide. That’s what we must always go back to when we’re making decisions as professionals. The new standards align more closely, in wording and in context, with the Code of Ethics than the current standards do. I believe this reflects the person centredness of our profession and supports regulated members in their interpretation of the regulatory framework.”
How will the new standards benefit patients?
Olivia
“The new standards revolve around patient care. They will encourage an increase in developing and maintaining trusting relationships between care providers and patients, dignity for patients, and genuine care for each patient’s well-being. My hope is that the new standards will allow patients to be more involved in their care and improve their health outcomes. I’m excited to see what these standards are going to do as they take effect.”
Essi
“The new standards reflect the comprehensive and continuous care that’s often provided by pharmacy teams across different types of practices. They better highlight the important and meaningful work that pharmacy professionals do, focusing on how pharmacists are key players in a patient’s care journey, rather than the journey of the prescription through the pharmacy.”
Do you think these standards will set us up for the future?
Essi
“I believe that pharmacists will see themselves better reflected, not just as professionals, but as advocates, as leaders, and as clinicians in the new standards.”
