pharmacy technician - Ontario College of Pharmacists

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
THERE HAVE BEEN
MANY CHANGES
AND THE NEXT
FEW MONTHS WILL
CONTINUE IN THAT
DIRECTION
Bonnie Hauser, R.Ph., B.Sc. Phm.
President
One constant in life is change.
Over the last four months there
have been many changes at the
College and the next few months
will continue in that direction. We
are dealing with the retirement
of our registrar and the search
for her replacement. The council
has had the addition of two newly
elected pharmacy technicians. We
have just received the new DPRA
and all that that entails. As well we
are moving towards the new scope
of practice.
At March Council, I had the
pleasure of welcoming our
first two pharmacy technician
members to their inaugural
meeting. Amber Walker and Tracy
Wills were acclaimed to these
positions in a recent election for a
two and a half year term expiring
in the fall of 2013. Along with
their place at the Council table,
our two pharmacy technician
members were placed on various
College committees where they
will take an active and important
role. I know I speak on behalf of
all of our Council members when
I say that I will ensure that both
of them are fully integrated into
Council so that together we can
work effectively to develop policies
that are in the best interest of the
public.
There are now over 200 pharmacy
technicians on our register, and
many more who are in the process
of registering. The timing is great as
we have just received the regulations
to the Drug and Pharmacies
Regulation Act, which further clarify
the technician role.
The new regulation also provided
for pharmacists authority to refill a
prescription, and for pharmacies to
have an acoustically private area for
patient education. It is time for us
to begin to consider how pharmacists
and pharmacy technicians can
work together to have pharmacy
technicians take on more of the
technical role, so that pharmacists
can be freed up to carry out their
new authority, as well as to provide
enhanced pharmacy services such
as Medscheck.
At March Council, the regulation
to enable an enhanced scope of
practice for pharmacists was also
ratified and sent to government.
We anticipate that this new scope
will also soon be available to
pharmacists, again prompting us to
revise our practice models.
As we move ahead with the
new scope for pharmacists and
pharmacy technicians, Deanna
Williams steps down this spring as
College Registrar after eleven years
of service. She steered the College
through a most remarkable era and
I want to thank her for her dedication
and hard work. Much of the
change and enhancement to our
profession has been made possible
thanks to her leadership. On behalf
of Council I want to again thank her
and wish her the very best.
We’ve been saying it over and over
again, but these are some very
exciting times for pharmacists in
Ontario. We have much work to
do together to implement these
new roles over the next year, and
I look forward to working with you
and our Council to enhance our
profession in the best interest of
patient care in Ontario.
PHARMACY CONNECTION ~ SPRING 2011 ~ PAGE 5