Canada turns to pharmacies to fill primary-care gaps

Pharmacists can now test for and treat more conditions, including strep throat, reducing some of the workload on physicians. Maria Sarrouh reports.

Islanders can now get tested and treated for strep throat at community pharmacies across P.E.I., after the province expanded its Pharmacy Plus program.

Pharmacists have been assessing sore throats through Pharmacy Plus for about three years, but if symptoms suggested strep, patients previously had to be referred to another health-care provider to restart the process. With the expansion, pharmacists can assess symptoms more fully, test for strep when appropriate and, if the test is positive, prescribe an antibiotic.

“Clearly that created a barrier for quick access to care,” said Erin MacKenzie, executive director of the P.E.I. Pharmacy Association. “Strep throat is very painful. And it’s not something that people will really want to wait for a day or two or a week whenever, you know, they can get into an appointment.”

The newest numbers from Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information suggest P.E.I. has the lowest share of people with a regular health-care provider of any province.

“This should alleviate some of the strain and demand in emergency rooms and with physicians and nurse practitioners,” said Trevor Paynter, director of Pharmacare with the P.E.I. Department of Health and Wellness.

He added more than 250,000 assessments have been done since the program launched.

“This has been a very popular program, and this will now be another tool in the toolbox for pharmacists to be able to use to help Islanders,” Paynter said.

MacKenzie said the move adds nearly 50 additional access points for care. Some pharmacies will be able to accommodate walk-ins, while others may require appointments depending on staffing.

She also noted most sore throats are caused by a virus. If symptoms don’t align with strep, or if a strep test is negative, pharmacists can still recommend supportive care and how to monitor symptoms.

The expansion reflects a broader push across Canada to widen what pharmacists can assess and prescribe for, although scope of practice varies by province.

Some have been more wary. In Ontario, the province’s College of Pharmacists said 43 per cent of pharmacist respondents to its expanded-scope consultation expressed concerns it would worsen workload, burnout, corporate pressures and staffing issues.

Though the job description is growing, with pharmacists doing more in the same hours, MacKenzie, a pharmacist herself, said it’s a welcome change that gives pharmacists the ability to provide more care and “close the loop.”

“You’re feeling that you’re able to provide everything that you can within your educational boundaries and limits and your scope of practice. And I think that it’s really rewarding to be able to follow through and provide that service,” she said.

In some places, pharmacists can go further. For example, in Nova Scotia, they can assess tick bites to help prevent Lyme disease, and in British Columbia, 21 minor ailments are on the list.

The province has been piloting the expansion since December but announced it this week.

Paynter added the health department will keep reviewing other opportunities to expand pharmacists’ scope of practice to match the province’s priorities.