‘If we had this a month ago I think it would’ve saved a lot of emergency trips,’ says pharmacist Zorzit
It’s being hailed as a way for patients to access health care - for minor ailments at least - without having to spend hours at hospital emergency departments.As of Jan. 1, 2023, pharmacists across Ontario can assess and prescribe treatments for 13 minor conditions such as cold sores, pink eye and urinary tract infections.
Pharmacies will usually have a private consultation room where patients with minor ailments can speak with a pharmacist.“After we go through the assessment we develop a treatment plan and develop a follow up care plan and will contact you to see if the treatment is working effectively,” Zorzit said. “Not every pharmacy has to do it. Not every pharmacist has to prescribe medications for the 13 minor ailments. A lot of it has to do with the capacity of a pharmacy to do it, as well as the competency of each practitioner. If a pharmacist isn’t comfortable prescribing something, the pharmacist will refer that to a doctor. It’ll be case by case, pharmacy to pharmacy, there is a ton of courses and training for pharmacists to complete, but I think it’s a really great thing. I’m excited to do it.
“It was a decent amount of work but we knew about it ahead of time and worked on it during the summer and the fall, so our pharmacists were prepared for January 1st and we had a plan in terms of our work flow and how we were going to operate the clinic and that we had the competency to prescribe for minor ailments,” Zorzit said.
"The minor ailment program is an extension of what we already do. We’ve assessed these minor ailments before but now we have some more tools at our disposal to give patients better access to care.”
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