The provincial government is starting consultations on adding 14 more common ailments to the list of health issues that people in Ontario can get treatment for at a pharmacy.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said on Wednesday that the government is beginning consultations with partners like the Ontario Pharmacists Association and the Neighborhood Pharmacies Association of Canada on ways to leverage the skills and expertise of pharmacists to continue making pharmacies a one stop shop for more convenient care closer to home.
The consultations will look at treating and prescribing at pharmacies for ailments such as sore throat, head lice and minor sleep disorders like insomnia, as well as ordering and collecting tests and for more illnesses such as strep throat.
Administering additional publicly funded vaccines at pharmacies, including tetanus and shingle shots, will also be looked at.
In January 2023 the province made changes to allow pharmacists to treat and prescribe for 19 common ailments, such as rashes, insect bites and simple urinary tract infections.
Jones said Wednesday that over a million assessments have been completed at pharmacies since the program began.
Speaking on AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides, Rob Modestino, owner/pharmacist at Rob's Pharmacy in LaSalle says the announcement is kind of a mixed bag for them.
"It's great for the patient, I think this expansion has to happen, but we're getting to the point where pharmacists are getting so much put on our plate and without being able to properly staff it's going to be difficult. I think this is a great announcement, I think it's great for patient care, but I think something in the background has to be done," he said.
Modestino says as a profession they haven't seen basic pharmacy fees increase since 2012 while costs keep going up and up, yet the expectation is for them to continue doing more.
He says there will be fees attached to increased minor ailments, but without increases to the basic fees, it gets to the point where the question is how much of this can pharmacies really do?
"This is great like I said for the patient, but we've been pushed since COVID so far that it's becoming more and more difficult to do our everyday stuff. And add this onto it, so I think the consultation has to look at that. Without that portion being taken care of, I think it's going to be a hard sell."
Pharmacies bill the provincial government similarly to doctors, with Modestino saying they get a fee for prescriptions but that's the fee that hasn't changed in 12 years.
"And we do bill a fee for these services, but usually the fees barely cover our costs. It's a thing where the government I think is looking at this as a way to expand patient care, but try to save money at the same time. And it's not what I think we really anticipated it to be," he said.
The new round of consultations will also look at improving Ontario's MedsCheck program, which provides a one-to-one consultation between pharmacists and eligible patients for approximately 20 to 30 minutes once a year to help them comply with prescription medications.
- with files from AM800's The Shift