The College ensures that the practice of pharmacy meets or exceeds the standards set out to protect the public through its Practice Review Program, continuing education requirements and complaints process.
Practice Review Program
The Practice Review Program is an in-person review of a pharmacy professional’s practice and the pharmacy where they work. The program aims to protect public safety by improving compliance with College Bylaws and Professional Practice Policies and ensuring consistent delivery of pharmacy services across BC.
Under the Practice Review Program, every pharmacy and pharmacy professional in BC will be reviewed to ensure they meet College standards. The Program’s multi-year time frame allows for all pharmacies and pharmacy professionals currently practising in BC to be reviewed on a cyclical basis.
Practice Review Program Expands into Hospital Pharmacies
The College implemented the Practice Review Program in community pharmacy practice settings in February 2015. Building on the success of the PRP in community practice, the College launched its second phase, which focuses on Hospital Pharmacy Practice settings, with the first hospital reviews taking place in April 2017.
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“It is important to be able to assess the ability of pharmacy professionals to practice safely in both community and hospital settings. The Practice Review Program allows the College to do this and is a key tool in protecting public safety.” |
The Practice Review Program is split into two components: the Pharmacy Review and the Pharmacy Professionals Review. The Pharmacy Review is built upon the College’s previous inspection process and focuses on legislated physical requirements of the pharmacy. The Pharmacy Professionals Review is the individual review of a pharmacy professional’s practice.
The focus areas for the Pharmacy Professionals Review were identified as having the most impact on patient safety in both community and hospital pharmacy practice settings. As pharmacy practice evolves and the Practice Review Program progresses, the focus areas may change based on the College Board’s direction.
New Focus Areas for Pharmacy Technicians in Community Practice
Starting in December 2017, College Compliance Officers began conducting Pharmacy Professionals Reviews for pharmacy technicians in community practice using a new set of focus areas – the new focus areas were designed to be more applicable to their scope of practice.
New focus areas for pharmacy technicians in community practice
- Patient Identification Verification
- Product Distribution (new)
- Collaboration (new)
- Documentation
Reviews are conducted by a team of Compliance Officers who are all registered pharmacy professionals employed by the College. Compliance Officers record and document areas of compliance and non-compliance while observing pharmacy professionals throughout the review process.
2017 /18 Practice Review Program Statistics
Phase 1 Community Pharmacy Practice
- 240 Pharmacy Reviews
- 808 Pharmacy Professionals Reviews
- 713 Pharmacists
- 95 Pharmacy Technicians
Phase 2 Hospital Pharmacy Practice (Since April 2018)
- 25 Pharmacy Reviews
- 332 Pharmacy Professionals Reviews
- 160 Pharmacists
- 172 Pharmacy Technicians
To learn more about the Practice Review Program visit bcpharmacists.org/prp.
Professional Development
The College’s Professional Development and Assessment Program (PDAP) helps to ensure that pharmacy professionals continue to provide safe and effective pharmacy care.
Continuing education is mandatory for all registered pharmacy professionals in order to renew their registration. Each pharmacy professional must complete a minimum of 15 hours of continuing education documented on at least 6 learning records annually.
Registrants must complete a minimum of 5 hours of accredited learning as part of their 15 total hours in order to satisfy their annual professional development requirements and maintain registration.
Registered pharmacy professionals use the CE-Plus tool to submit their annual professional development requirements as set out by PDAP. The CE-Plus tool is available through the College’s secure eServices website.
Accredited Hours
Accredited learning activities have been reviewed using stringent criteria to ensure they are of high quality, unbiased, and clearly identify learning objectives for participants. Accredited programs indicate the number of accredited hours (CEUs) assigned to the activity, and identify the accrediting body (such as UBC CPPD, CCCEP, ACPE). Usually a certificate or documentation is received upon completion.