Pharmacy Technicians

Read the guest post by College staff member Ashley Cheung, Community Practice Reviews and Competency Coordinator.

Pharmacists in Newfoundland and Labrador are now able to administer medication by inhalation and injection, including flu vaccines, as the Provincial Government has signed off on new regulations under the Pharmacy Act.

In order to provide these services under the new regulations of the Pharmacy Act, pharmacists will be required to complete additional training and adhere to standards developed by the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board.

The deadline for pharmacy assistants to complete the bridging program to become a regulated Pharmacy Technician is just around the corner!

Current pharmacy assistants have until December 31, 2015 to complete all of the requirements, including registration payment.

Find out more information on these requirements on our website. 

Pharmacy technicians, in a community or hospital setting, are now permitted to witness and destroy narcotics as per Health Canada Circular Letter to Pharmacists in Canada No. 655. It is important to note that two health care professionals are required to witness the destruction of narcotics, which only one can be a pharmacy technicians ie. Two pharmacists or a pharmacist and a pharmacy technician.  Two pharmacy technicians cannot witness and destroy narcotics.

The College attended the 8th Annual Pharmacy Technician Society of BC (PTSBC) Conference which was held on October 25th and 26th at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre in Burnaby. This year’s conference focused on the need for communication between pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and support personnel in order to increase collaboration with respect to workflow issues, division of responsibilities, and scope of practice.

On August 6th, the Nova Scotia government passed amendments to that province’s Pharmacy Act and associated regulations which will give the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists the authority to register and regulate pharmacy technicians in Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia joins British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario in registering and regulating its pharmacy technicians.

The launch of the National Pharmacy Technician Bridging Program this September will have an impact on pharmacy assistants in the “current” pathway working towards registration as a pharmacy technician. If you are in the “current” pathway, you are now required to complete both the Jurisprudence Exam (JE) and the Professional Practice course.

BC students are reminded that they have greater flexibility and can choose between the UBC-CPPD in-class or online Pharmacy Technician Bridging Education Program or Selkirk College’s online program. As a reminder the deadline to complete all requirements and register with the College as a pharmacy technician for those in the “current” pathways is December 31, 2015.

There was some confusion in British Columbia when the Federal Government announced earlier this year that regulated pharmacy technicians would now be able to oversee the transfer of prescriptions from one pharmacy to another. Hadn't this always been the case? In British Columbia, yes it had.