ACP Council has approved draft Standards for the Operation of Licensed Pharmacies (SOLP) for the purpose of consultation. Regulated members, interested parties, and members of the public are encouraged to review the draft SOLP and provide feedback to ACP.
The draft SOLP were developed to address goal #2 of ACP’s five-year strategic plan: There is a modern and relevant framework to regulate pharmacy practice. A key objective of this goal was to ensure that standards are current, relevant, clear, concise, and appropriately balance inputs, processes, and outputs.
Development of the draft SOLP was informed by a comprehensive environmental scan of standards of practice in different jurisdictions across Canada and internationally, and through the advice of external reviewers including regulated members and a member of the public.
The draft SOLP are organized in similar fashion to and aligned with the draft Standards of Practice for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians (SPPPT), which underwent consultation earlier in 2023. The draft SOLP are divided into six domains:
- person-centred care,
- professionalism and leadership,
- practice environment,
- drug management and licensure,
- information management, and
- continuous quality improvement.
Similar to the draft SPPPT, each domain of the draft SOLP is divided into topics. Each topic has an outcome standard which describes the expected patient outcome that must be achieved for the standard to be met. The achievement of each outcome standard is detailed further through the inclusion of descriptive standards that provide the regulated member specific details of the activities needed to achieve the required outcome.
To share your feedback, please visit the consultations section of the ACP website. Comments about the draft standards are invited prior to Friday, February 23, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. MT. Council will consider feedback received in mid 2024.