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Board highlights - June 12, 2020
Topics include Black Lives Matter; an update on the College's response to COVID-19; the results of our Customer Satisfaction Survey; and an update on pharmacists' injection authority.
How to Watch
Along with organizations across Canada, College staff and Board members have been doing our part to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by working remotely. As such, this month’s Board meeting was conducted virtually, via video conference.
A recording of the June Board Meeting is available here:
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Black Lives Matter
Registrar Bob Nakagawa, spoke on behalf of the College to acknowledge that we all have a responsibility to stand against racism, and to express our solidarity with the Black Community.
He went on to pledge our commitment to developing a plan to guide our organization in raising awareness of, and combatting, the racism faced by Black People in BC.
The College has established a Working Group to help lead this charge and identify ways that we, as both an organization and regulator, can take action and reinforce the fact that Black Lives Matter, and that racism, in any form, has no place in our health system.
Registrar Nakagawa also called on all of BC’s pharmacy professionals to step up and show your solidarity and support. To listen and learn. And to share resources and educate your friends, family and colleagues.
The most important thing we can do as health professionals is show our country’s Black Communities that they don’t have to fight this battle alone.
Read the Registrar's Full Statement below:
AUDITOR'S REPORT
The Board approved the audited financial statements for fiscal year 2019/2020, as presented by the College's auditors.
The College's Response to COVID-19
The impact of COVID-19 on Canadian Society has been significant. In addition to the strain it continues to place on our healthcare system, the novel coronavirus has also had a profound impact on the finances of Canadians.
At its April 2020 Board meeting, the Board conducted a review of the College’s projected 2020/2021 budget and decided not to proceed with operationalizing the planned registrant fee increases.
Currently, the College is experiencing some savings in areas such as travel, accommodations and professional development. However, we are also projecting a reduction in revenues due to difficulties scheduling exams. In addition, there are still many unknowns related to what the full extent of the impact COVID-19 will be or how long the pandemic will last.
While the Board is still reviewing the College’s approach to many activities given social distancing and changing priorities, the projections that have been done so far indicate that, at this point in time, the College will have sufficient savings to avoid the need for the budgeted fee increases.
Going forward, the College will continue to monitor financial reports and the impact of a future resumption of normal operations on our budget.
Customer Satisfaction Survey Results
Gillian Vrooman, the College’s Director of Communications and Engagement presented the Board with results from the College’s 2019 Customer Satisfaction Survey, which was conducted from October 25 – November 22, 2019.
In December 2016, the College of Pharmacists of BC partnered with Excellence Canada, in pursuit of its Excellence, Innovation and Wellness (EIW) Standard, one of the most progressive standards for organizational excellence in the world.
The EIW Standard is comprised of 5 key drivers, one of which is focused on Customers. The Customer Driver examines how the organization engages its customers and partners for satisfaction and success, including listening, acting and reporting on customer feedback, as well as using collaboration and innovation to improve products, services and relationships.
As part of its work under the Customers Driver, the College began measuring customer satisfaction through an annual survey starting in 2018. Participants are asked a number of questions about their experiences contacting, or otherwise corresponding with the College, and how satisfied they were with the College’s level of professionalism, response time, and overall accessibility. The College has set a goal of achieving at least an 80% overall customer satisfaction rating.
The 2019 survey was completed by a total of 741 respondents, representing an 46% increase in participation over 2018’s survey, which was completed by a total of 400 respondents.
The survey attracted public participation with over 17% of respondents identifying as members of the public.
Results from the 2019 survey indicated an 85% approval rating among respondents. This is a slight increase from the 2018 approval rating of 84%.
The feedback gathered through this survey will be used to inform the College’s ongoing service objectives and ensure that we continue to deliver professional and ethical service that enables us to meet our mandate in protecting the public through the regulation of pharmacy practice in BC.
The College would like to thank all those who took the time to complete the survey and help us continue to improve and adjust our service standards to best suit the needs of patients in British Columbia.
Drug Administration Committee - Pharmacists' Injection Authority Update
Board member and member of the Drug Administration Committee (DAC), Alex Dar Santos, provided the Board with an update on the recommendations for pharmacists’ injection authority.
At its February 2019 meeting, based on recommendations from the Drug Administration Committee, the Board directed the Registrar to remove current restrictions on pharmacist injection and intranasal administration of medications.
In the spring of 2019, the College began work with the Professional Regulation and Oversight Branch of the Ministry of Health to establish the Safe Drug Administration by Pharmacists Working Group, comprised of representatives from regulatory colleges of health professions with prescribing authority, to determine the impacts of removing the restrictions on pharmacist injection and intranasal administration of medications.
The first meeting of the Working Group occurred on October 28, 2019, and an update was provided to the Board at the November 2019 Board meeting.
The Working Group raised specific questions regarding the accreditation of training programs for pharmacist drug administration and the range of drugs that pharmacists would be permitted to inject after the removal of restrictions.
Overall, there was general support from the other regulatory colleges for the removal of restrictions on pharmacist drug administration.
Based on feedback from the Working Group, College Staff prepared a presentation for a second meeting. This involved reframing the proposal to remove restrictions on pharmacist injection authority to better reflect the principles of Right-touch regulation. Right-touch regulation means always asking what risk we are trying to regulate, being proportionate and targeted in regulating that risk or finding ways other than regulation to promote good practice and high-quality healthcare. Data was also obtained from the Ministry of Health on injectable drugs dispensed from community pharmacies over a one-year period. The data assists the College in taking an evidence-informed approach to removing restrictions on pharmacist drug administration. This information was to be presented to the Working Group in February 2020, however this meeting was cancelled. A brief update was provided to the Board in April 2020.
On May 22, 2020, the Ministry of Health advised the College that they will provide the College with a plan to move forward with changes to pharmacists’ injection authority in a collaborative manner as soon as possible.
The DAC reconvened on May 25, 2020 to discuss the questions raised by the Working Group and to provide any additional updates since its first meeting.
The DAC will reconvene in June to review the timeline presented by the Ministry of Health, and to discuss the options and next steps moving forward.