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.
The Practice Review Program is split into two components: the Pharmacy Review and the Pharmacy Professionals Review. Both components are based entirely on College Bylaws and Professional Practice Policies.
The Pharmacy Review process is built upon the College's previous inspection process and focuses on the legislated physical requirements of a pharmacy and the responsibilities of a pharmacy manager. Community pharmacies are evaluated on 12 mandatory and four non-mandatory categories for sites that provide sterile compounding, residential care, opioid agonist treatment, and/or injectable opioid agonist treatment. Hospital pharmacies are evaluated on 12 mandatory categories and five non-mandatory categories for sites that provide sterile compounding, non-sterile compounding, residential care, bulk repackaging and ambulatory services. Notably, the residential care services review in both hospital and community settings was a new component added to the non-mandatory categories in April 2019.
The Pharmacy Professionals Review is grounded in Board-approved focus areas that were identified as having the most impact on patient safety. The focus areas differ between pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.
Focus areas for pharmacists in community or hospital practice:
- Patient Identification Verification
- Profile Check
- Counselling
- Documentation
Focus areas for pharmacy technicians in community and hospital practice:
- Patient Identification Verification
- Product Distribution
- Collaboration
- Documentation
Practice Review Program Statistics 2019/2020
Community Pharmacy Practice
| March 1, 2019 - February 29, 2019 | Total |
|---|---|
| Pharmacy Reviews | 279 (33 provide residential care services) |
| Pharmacy Professional Reviews | 743 |
| Pharmacists | 666 |
| Pharmacy Technicians | 77 |
Hospital Pharmacy Practice
| March 1, 2019 - February 29, 2020 | Total |
|---|---|
| Pharmacy Reviews | 13 |
| Pharmacy Professionals Reviews | 441 |
| Pharmacists | 241 |
| Pharmacy Technicians | 200 |
PRP Insights
Trends in observations made by Compliance Officers during practice reviews also drive the regular PRP publication called PRP Insights. PRP Insights are articles written and available through Readlinks on the CPBC website that address areas identified by the PRP review process, as being of interest or educational need for pharmacy professionals. The publication of articles plays a key role in maintaining patient safety by raising awareness, educating, and clarifying issues to pharmacy professionals in order to improve compliance in their practice. The Practice Review Program published the following PRP Insights articles in 2019/2020:
- April 2020 Article: Reminder of the Importance of Patient Identification and Counselling, Including for Deliveries
- February 2020 Article: Pharmacy Managers Role in Scheduling Staff for Professionals Reviews (Hospitals Practice)
- December 2019 Article: PRP Insights: Updating a Patient’s Allergies, Adverse Drug Reactions and Intolerances in a Hospital Setting
- November 2019 Article: PRP Insights - Residential Care
- August 2019 Article: Hospital Pharmacies Providing Pharmacy Services to Outpatients: Releasing Medications
- June 2019 Article: All Changes to the Approved Pharmacy Diagram Require a Change in Layout Application
- February 2019 Article: Undergoing Pharmacy Renovations? Don’t Forget to Report Layout Changes to the College
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.
PDAP Mobile
The College’s Professional Development and Assessment Program (PDAP) Portal is also available through an easy to use mobile app.
PDAP Mobile is a mobile app that allows pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to easily enter, edit and submit their required continuing education learning records through their mobile phone or device.
PDAP Mobile is compatible with both Apple and Android devices.
Use the download links above or search “PDAP Mobile” in the Apple App Store or Google App Market to download the app.
Learn more at bcpharmacists.org/pdapmobile