Manitoba pharmacists seek dose of new powers

WINNIPEG — When patients come to Britt Kural to assess a sore throat and ask for medicine, she has to tell them no.

Kural, a practising pharmacist for 27 years in Winnipeg, was trained to help — but regulations in Manitoba bar her from treating the common ailment.

“I get questions regularly from patients who want (care) and it’s quite disappointing when I have to say, ‘No, I’m sorry, we can’t do that in Manitoba,’” Kural said Thursday, noting she’s forced to send people to a doctor instead.

Pharmacists Manitoba is calling on the government to expand the scope of health services and bring care up to par with other provinces, better co-ordinate patient care and retain and recruit pharmacists.

Manitoba pharmacists have the most restricted scope of practice in Canada, even though all are trained equally across the country, the organization says. The advocacy group is asking the province to allow pharmacists to diagnose and prescribe medication for 41 common ailments their counterparts elsewhere in Canada can treat. They include asthma, ear infections, ringworm, pink eye, warts, shingles and swimmer’s ear.

“We know that the satisfaction rate from patients who have accessed care through pharmacies is very high, and we know that there are lots of patients who don’t have access to a family physician or our primary care provider,” said Kural, who works with Pharmacists Manitoba as a pharmacy practice adviser. “It’s really important that everybody has access to that level of care.”

Manitoba pharmacists are only able to assist patients with 14 common conditions, including dermatitis, dandruff, mild acne, hives and hemorrhoids.

In the last month, several provinces have announced broader powers for pharmacists.

On May 11, Ontario announced it would allow pharmacists to assess and prescribe medication for nine additional ailments than they already do, and administer six vaccines for tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria, respiratory syncytial virus, shingles and pneumococcal virus.

Pharmacists in Prince Edward Island can now diagnose and treat ear and sinus infections. Saskatchewan recently implemented a similar plan to allow pharmacists to treat strep throat and ear infections.

Alberta pharmacists lead all provinces in scope of care as they service 58 common ailments.

A Pharmacists Manitoba survey found 62 per cent of students in the University of Manitoba’s College of Pharmacy are considering relocating to another province to make the most of their training and education. The same survey found 53 per cent of recent graduates are considering relocating. Another seven per cent have signed contracts to leave.

Kural said expanding powers for pharmacists would help northern communities that face doctor shortages.

“Almost all of those communities have a pharmacy, so why not take advantage of the infrastructure and the health-care practitioners you have ready to take on some of these activities by enabling them to do what we’re trained to do?” she said.

In November’s throne speech, Premier Wab Kinew said the province would expand the scope of practice for pharmacists, “so you can skip the doctor’s office and pick up prescriptions for birth control, (urinary tract infections) and common ailments at your local pharmacy.”

The former Progressive Conservative government expanded pharmacist roles to diagnose and treat UTIs in 2021. The province announced last May pharmacists would be able to prescribe birth control and HIV medications.

“Why not take advantage of the infrastructure and the health-care practitioners you have ready to take on some of these activities by enabling them to do what we’re trained to do?”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Thursday initiating that process was taking longer than expected and pharmacists should be able to prescribe those drugs by the fall.

Asagwara said the NDP government is working with advocacy groups and the College of Pharmacists of Manitoba to identify which ailments could be handled by pharmacists.

Doctors Manitoba says it would like to see pharmacists playing a bigger role in assessing and medicating ailments, but it needs to be part of a broader conversation about how the province can improve patient care.

“Co-ordinated care should see doctors, pharmacists and other providers working together as a team to meet patients’ needs, rather than creating more gaps for patients to fall through,” a Doctors Manitoba spokesperson said in an email. The spokesperson said if there’s too little co-ordination, long-term care and monitoring medications can become difficult.

The College of Pharmacists of Manitoba said in a statement expanding the duties of pharmacists has the potential to improve access to care for patients.

» Winnipeg Free Press