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What You Need to Know About Ensuring You have a Pharmacy Manager Appointed
Pharmacy managers take on a large amount of responsibility to ensure that a pharmacy’s operations meet the appropriate standards and legislative requirements. A pharmacy must have a manager, and the pharmacy manager must be able to carry out their legal obligations.
Under the Pharmacy Operations and Drug Scheduling Act (PODSA), a “manager” is defined as a pharmacist who is designated in a pharmacy licence as manager of a pharmacy. A pharmacy manager must personally manage and be responsible for the daily operation of the pharmacy, and comply with all applicable duties under PODSA, the Health Professions Act (HPA), their regulations and the College bylaws and policies pursuant to these Acts.
Responsibilities outlined in section 18(2) and section 24 and 29 of the PODSA Bylaws must be carried out by the pharmacy manager. A pharmacy manager is responsible for enforcing the pharmacy’s policies and overseeing the legislative requirements to operate a pharmacy securely and safely.
If a pharmacy does not have a manager, pursuant to section 3(c), 6(1)(a) and 7(3) of PODSA, the pharmacy’s licence will be cancelled. Should the pharmacy continue to operate without a licence, it would be doing so unlawfully.
Additionally, this matter may be referred to the College’s Inquiry Committee who will determine if the direct owner has fulfilled their legislative obligation in holding a pharmacy license.
Pharmacy Operating without a Manager
Pursuant to section 6(1)(a) of PODSA, a pharmacy licence is cancelled if the pharmacy manager ceases to manage the pharmacy. If a new pharmacy manager is not appointed or hasn’t completed their Proof of Eligibility before the current pharmacy manager leaves, the pharmacy licence is cancelled on the next business day after the last day of the current manager, and the pharmacy must cease operation immediately. Otherwise, the pharmacy is considered to be operating unlawfully, in contravention to section 7(2) of PODSA.
Notifying the College When There is a Change of Manager
Pharmacy Managers
Pursuant to section 18(2)(p) of the PODSA Bylaws, a manager must immediately notify the registrar in writing when ceasing to be the manager of the pharmacy.
If you resign from the pharmacy manager position, are terminated by your employer, are going on leave, or cannot carry out your responsibilities as a pharmacy manager, you must notify the College by emailing the Licensure Department at: [email protected] as soon as possible. If you do not notify the College, the matter may be referred to the College’s Inquiry Committee.
The College will then contact the authorized representative of your pharmacy to initiate the Change of Manager process so that a new pharmacy manager can be appointed and assume the role the day after your last day.
If you are appointed as the new manager of a pharmacy, please ensure that your name appears on the pharmacy licence once the Change of Manager application is complete. You can confirm this by retrieving a copy of the pharmacy licence through the pharmacy portal in eServices (if you are not the manager or authorized representative of the pharmacy, you will not have access to the pharmacy portal), or by checking your pharmacy information using the Find a Pharmacy or Registrant directory on the College website.
If your name does not appear on the pharmacy licence, and you have not received an email regarding the status of your Change of Manager application, or gone through the Proof of Eligibility process, please contact the College immediately.
Authorized Representatives
Pursuant to section 4(a) of the Pharmacy Operations General Regulation, the authorized representative of the pharmacy must give written notice to the registrar by means of completing a Change of Manager application through eServices at least 7 days before a pharmacy manager ceases to manage a pharmacy.
The proposed pharmacy manager must meet the eligibility criteria for a pharmacy licence set out in PODSA before a pharmacy licence is issued. Note that the 7-day notification period is required under the Pharmacy Operations General Regulation and provides sufficient time for the College to initiate the Proof of Eligibility process for the proposed pharmacy manager to complete. The Proof of Eligibility process includes completion of an attestation, as well as a Criminal Record History if one has not been completed within the previous 5 years.
- Note that the Criminal Record History for a pharmacy licence application is not the same as the Criminal Record Check for registration renewal. To learn about the differences between these two checks, refer to page 26 of the Pharmacy Licensure Guide (v.2021.2).
Authorized representatives should be aware that if the proposed pharmacy manager cannot complete their Proof of Eligibility (e.g. If they cannot check off all attestations or their Criminal Record History does not receive a ‘Clear’ result), the Change of Manager application will be referred to the Application Committee for review. This process may delay the appointment start date of the proposed pharmacy manager. In the event of a delay, the current pharmacy manager may have to continue in their current role or the authorized representative will have to appoint another pharmacy manager until the Application Committee has reached a decision.
The process for completing a Change of Manager application can be found on the College website at: bcpharmacists.org/change-manager.
Please contact the College’s Licensure Department at: [email protected] for more information.