Alberta College of Pharmacy’s (ACP) pharmacy practice consultants have observed that the practice of pharmacy, including the provision of restricted activities, is occurring without a pharmacist supervising the pharmacy. This is a reminder that for a pharmacy to be open and offer pharmacy services to the public, or for any restricted activities to occur, a licensee must ensure that there is always a pharmacist who is present and supervising the practice of pharmacy at the licensed pharmacy.
It is the licensee’s responsibility to ensure a pharmacist is present and that the pharmacy is adequately staffed to undertake safe and effective pharmacy practice. A pharmacist must be present to supervise the pharmacy team through direct and/or indirect supervision, depending on the status of each pharmacy team member. Pharmacy technicians are also able to provide supervision for provisional or student pharmacy technicians, provided that they are authorized to perform the activities that they are supervising, though a pharmacist must be present in the pharmacy to supervise the pharmacy team.
If the pharmacist is temporarily absent from the pharmacy, the licensee must ensure legislated requirements are met, as outlined in section 17 of the Pharmacy and Drug Regulation.
Licensees and registrants are reminded to review requirements for supervision and ensure standards related to pharmacist presence and supervision are met.
