OCP Annual Report 2001/2002 - Ontario College of Pharmacists

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The Complaints Committee is a statutory committee that investigates complaints received by the College about its members. In each case the Committee assesses the presented facts and the particular member’s response as well as considers any practice improvement measures implemented by the member. The Committee then makes a decision geared towards the simultaneous goals of achieving public safety and educating the member. Iris Krawchenko, Chair Committee Members: Roger Ball (NCCM) Joan Boyer David Malian Barry Solway Complaints Committee The Committee also uses its review process to identify opportunities for practice improvement both in the member’s practice and the practice setting. The Committee then orders appropriate remediation. It is the Committee’s philosophy that this approach is the most effective means of carrying out its mandate of public protection. As a result, the Committee has expanded its repertoire of educational resources so that each decision is carefully designed to best effect improvement in the member’s practice. Workload This past year was the third and final year the current complement of Committee members served together. The Committee’s work focused on maintaining consistency in both approach and decision-making, while simultaneously keeping an open mind to current trends in the industry, and practices and procedures that may have an impact on assessing a pharmacist’s conduct. It also increased the frequency of its meetings from six to eight times a year to expedite the timeliness in disposing cases. The Committee made final decisions on, and disposed of, 136 complaint investigations. Referrals In addition to issuing reminders and cautions, the Committee also refers members to the Quality Assurance Program, the College’s Jurisprudence Seminar & Examination, or other suitable educational programs. Only 18 of the 136 cases reviewed were referred to the Discipline Committee — a step reserved for the most serious cases where public safety is at risk and no other alternative is appropriate. Medication Error Prevention As in past years, the majority of cases reviewed by the Complaints Committee involved medication dispensing errors. The Committee continues to closely examine the circumstances surrounding the error as well as the pharmacist’s response. The Committee broadened its assessment of these situations by critically analyzing the processes, human and otherwise, that lead to error. In determining whether the member’s particular breach of the Standards of Practice should result in a referral to the Discipline Committee, the Committee considers the seriousness of the error and whether there was reasonable opportunity for the member to foresee that harm could occur as a result of their error. 10 OCP Annual Report 2001-2002
Complaints Committee (cont’d) The Committee considers both the type of the drug as well as the patient’s profile to determine the level of care that could have been reasonably expected of the pharmacist in the particular circumstances. Given that medication errors have a sizeable effect on the health care system as a whole, the Committee seeks resolutions in dispensing error cases that are focused on creating meaningful and continuing quality improvements for the pharmacist’s practice setting and the associated pharmacy systems. Pharmacy Investigations The Committee recognizes that the practice setting can have a significant impact on an individual pharmacist’s practice. Indeed, during the course of its investigations, the Committee often uncovers possible pharmacy operational breaches that indicate a need for further scrutiny. In its dispositions, the Committee also makes numerous referrals of pharmacies to the Accreditation Committee for investigation and review. This year, the Complaints Committee collaborated with the Accreditation Committee to develop a pharmacy investigation process. This process will be implemented by the Accreditation Committee which has the authority, under the DPRA, to regulate pharmacies and to make referrals to the Discipline Committee. STATISTICS FOR 2001-2002 CATEGORY 2001-2002 2000-2001 Unauthorized Prescriptions 12 10 Reduction of Quantity 9 2 Confidentiality 0 8 Expired Medication 5 1 Failing to Intervene in Patients’ Best Interest* 3 2 Dispensing Errors 9 14 Ingested Dispensing Errors 35 33 Excessive Charges 5 3 Fraud 4 5 Professional Service 15 12 Product Selection/Substitution* 0 1 Records** 2 3 Labelling** 3 1 Miscellaneous 34 38 Total 136 133 * New categories introduced in 1999 ** New categories introduced in 2000 There were 18 cases referred to Discipline for the 2001-2002 cycle. OCP Annual Report 2001-2002 11
Page 2 and 3: The mission of the Ontario College
Page 4 and 5: REGISTRAR’S INTRODUCTION Registra
Page 6 and 7: President’s Message (cont’d) Du
Page 8 and 9: Accreditation Committee The Accredi
Page 10 and 11: The Quality Assurance Committee is
Page 14 and 15: Discipline Committee The Discipline
Page 16 and 17: No. Member: Charge Order medication
Page 18 and 19: No. Member: Charge Order through th
Page 20 and 21: No. Member: Charge Order misconduct
Page 22 and 23: No. Member: Charge Order director.
Page 24 and 25: No. Member: Charge Order reduced qu
Page 26 and 27: Dean French, Chair Finance Committe
Page 28 and 29: Statement of Operations December 31
Page 30 and 31: Notes to the Financial Statements D
Page 32 and 33: Schedule of Expenditure Year ended
Page 34 and 35: Barry Solway, Chair The Communicati
Page 36 and 37: Working Group on Certification Exam
Page 38 and 39: Standards of Practice Working Group
Page 40 and 41: Number of Pharmacists by Employment
Page 43: ONTARIO COLLEGE OF PHARMACISTS 483

OCP Annual Report 2001/2002 - Ontario College of Pharmacists

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