Pharmacies in Ontario, including your local community pharmacy, are closely regulated spaces. Pharmacies must be accredited by the Ontario College of Pharmacists to operate in Ontario and are held accountable to operational standards and expectations that promote quality pharmacy services.
Pharmacies employ pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who are also regulated by the Ontario College of Pharmacists. The care provided by pharmacists and pharmacy technicians must align with established standards, rules and regulations to ensure the delivery of safe, ethical care.
Accessing Pharmacy Services
Patients are encouraged to speak to the pharmacist at their community pharmacy to find out what healthcare services they offer and whether they are right for their needs. Certain services, like administering injections or assessing and prescribing for minor ailments, may not be offered at all pharmacies and may require an appointment. Please check with your local community pharmacy on how to access the services they provide.
When you visit a community pharmacy and access pharmacy services, you should expect to:
- Be treated fairly and with dignity and respect
- Trust that your personal health information is kept safe, secure and confidential
- Have the option to speak with the pharmacist in a quiet or private area of the pharmacy
- Be able to ask the pharmacist questions or schedule additional time to review your care
- Feel comfortable speaking with the pharmacist or pharmacy manager about any concerns you have about your care
Both patients and pharmacy professionals should expect a pharmacy environment that is respectful and free from discrimination.
Visit our What Your Pharmacy Professional is Authorized to Do webpage to better understand pharmacists’ and pharmacy technicians’ scope of practice and how they can support your care.
Work With Your Pharmacist to Support Your Health
Your pharmacist is a member of your healthcare team. Pharmacists are drug therapy experts with in-depth knowledge and specialized training in hundreds of medications. This makes them highly qualified to play a key role in helping you maximize your health outcomes and ensure the medications you are taking are safe and effective for you and your condition(s).
There are some steps that you can take to make sure that you are getting optimal care from your pharmacist, including:
- Staying with one pharmacist or one pharmacy to support consistent care
- Finding out how you can order your refills to avoid interruption in medication use
- Asking your pharmacist if you don’t understand your medication or how to take it
- Telling your pharmacist if you have any trouble taking your medication
- Sharing information about any changes to your health or the use of over-the-counter medications or health products
What Happens Behind the Community Pharmacy Counter
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are busy healthcare professionals who take care to ensure you receive safe, quality care.
From the time you drop off your prescription at your community pharmacy and pick it up, a variety of tasks are performed behind the pharmacy counter. These include, but are not limited to:
- Making sure your prescription is the right drug and dosage to best treat your condition
- Making sure your prescription does not negatively interact with any allergies you have, other medications you’re taking, or other medical conditions
- Entering your prescription into the pharmacy system
- Counting and packaging medication
- Making sure that all the information on your prescription label is correct
- Double-checking you are dispensed the correct medication and quantity
- Counseling you on potential side effects of your medication and how to take it properly
Other pharmacy services, such as assessing and prescribing for minor ailments or administering injections, also follow certain processes. These processes take time to help ensure patient safety.
Billing Practices
The dispensing or professional fee that is charged for every filled prescription can vary between pharmacies.
The fee is intended to cover the cost to the pharmacy of filling the prescription, including such things as salary and overhead as well as services required when a prescription is filled. It is sometimes referred to as the “usual and customary” fee and is required to be posted in a location visible to every patient. Additional fees may be charged for other services.
The College does not set fees or set restrictions on fees.
The Policy on Fees for Professional Services sets out College expectations when pharmacists charge fees for professional services outside of usual and customary dispensing activities.
Time-Delayed Safes for Narcotic Security
To increase safety for patients and pharmacy teams, and to make the drug supply more secure, all community pharmacies in Ontario are required to secure narcotics in a time-delayed safe. A time-delayed safe has an electronic timer that prevents access until a pre-set period of time has elapsed after the correct combination has been entered.
You’ll see red and white signs displayed at each public entrance to the pharmacy and in the dispensary (where you drop off and pick up prescriptions). These signs indicate that a time-delayed safe is in use.
Although it may take a bit more time when picking up prescriptions, you still have full access to the medications you require from your pharmacy. Time-delayed safes support the security of narcotics and help ensure medications are dispensed to patients only.
MedsCheck Program
MedsCheck is a publicly funded program administered by the Ministry of Health. It is a one-to-one consultation between pharmacists and eligible patients for approximately 20–30 minutes once each year to help patients:
- Comply with their prescription medications
- Better understand how the medications interact with each other and other over-the-counter medications they may be taking
A patient is eligible for the program if they:
- Have a chronic condition and are taking 3 or more prescription medications for their condition
- Are living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes
Pharmacists are required to follow the expectations of the MedsCheck program as outlined by the Ministry of Health. More information about the MedsCheck program is available on the Ministry of Health website.