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On September 30, 2024, the Pharmacy Act, 2024 was proclaimed. With this updated legislation, the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board will be now known as the College of Pharmacy of Newfoundland and Labrador.

College staff are currently working on updating resources, including our website, email addresses, and social media platforms to reflect this change.

Please continue to visit us online at https://nlpb.ca and contact us at inforx@nlpb.ca until this transition is complete.

Our updated social media handle is @CollegePharmNL.

In addition to the new Act, the accompanying regulations, Pharmacy Regulations, 2024, were approved by the board and subsequently published by the provincial government on September 27, 2024. These regulations bring the previously separate Administration of Drug Therapy by Inhalation or Injection Regulations, Authorization to Prescribe Regulations, and Pharmacy Regulation together in one set of regulations.

To view the new Pharmacy Act and Regulations, visit the Legislation section of our website at https://nlpb.ca/pharmacy-practice/legislation/

 

Prescribing by Pharmacists

With the update to the regulations, a few other revisions were made in relation to Prescribing by Pharmacists (Division 3 in the new Pharmacy Regulations, 2024).

  • The separate section pertaining to COVID-19 was removed and COVID-19 was added to both Schedule A (Approved Ailments and Conditions) and Schedule B (Preventable Diseases)
  • Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) was added to Schedule B (Preventable Diseases)

Subsequently, the board approved revisions to the Standards of Practice – Prescribing by Pharmacists to reflect these changes.

What this means:

  • The revisions related to COVID-19 were for clarity and consistency only and do not reflect any actual changes to requirements or expectations in relation to prescribing for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19.
  • The addition of RSV to Schedule B now enables authorized pharmacists to prescribe RSV vaccines for the prevention of RSV in accordance with the standards, best practices, and clinical guidelines.

 

 

Administration of Injections

As follow-up to the email sent by CPNL on Friday, October 18, 2024, revisions have been made to the Standards of Practice – Administration of Drug Therapy by Inhalation or Injection to reflect that once an authorized pharmacist has performed the clinical assessment and determined that it is appropriate to administer the vaccine,

  • the pharmacist may administer the drug therapy themselves;
  • an authorized pharmacy technician or other authorized health professional (e.g., a nurse) may administer the drug therapy; or
  • a pharmacy intern or pharmacy student may administer the drug therapy in accordance with Appendix A of the standards.

As previously communicated, the pharmacy’s policies and procedures must clearly outline the responsibilities of each professional who may be involved in the administration of vaccines, and appropriate documentation processes must be in place. The health professional should consult with their regulatory authority as appropriate to ensure that they are practicing within their scope and standards of practice.

Related Resources:

 

 

Annual Registration and Pharmacy Licence Renewals

CPNL’s annual renewal period for registration and pharmacy licensing will open on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. The deadline to renew is November 30, 2024. Late renewals will be charged an additional fee; for more information, please refer to the 2025 Schedule of Fees. Renewals are not complete until full payment has been received.
Registration Renewal: To renew your pharmacist or pharmacy technician registration, log on to the Registrant Portal and select the Registration Renewal option in the side menu.

Prepare for renewals by reviewing the Before You Renew Your Registration section.

Please refer to the Registrant Portal User Guide – Renewing Your Registration for instructions on renewing your registration in the online Registrant Portal,

 

Pharmacy Licence Renewal: To renew the pharmacy licence, pharmacists-in-charge must log on to the Pharmacy Portal and select the Licence Applications & Renewal option in the side menu. Please note that pharmacists-in-charge must log into the Pharmacy Portal using the same login credentials as they use to access the Registrant Portal.

Prepare for renewals by reviewing the Before You Renew The Pharmacy Licence section.

For instructions on renewing the pharmacy licence in the NLPB online Pharmacy Portal, please refer to the NLPB Pharmacy Portal User Guide – Renewing the Pharmacy Licence.

 

The online renewal process can be saved after each step and you can return for completion later. For security purposes, the system will automatically log out of your account after 30 minutes of inactivity. Please note, you must click the Save or Save & Continue buttons every 30 minutes to ensure your progress is successfully saved.

Once you have completed the online renewal process, you can print your receipt by clicking the Invoices & Receipts link in the side menu and clicking the Review button next to the appropriate invoice. The updated registration and pharmacy licence certificates will be available for download on January 1, 2025.

 

BEFORE YOU RENEW YOUR REGISTRATION

  • Pay all outstanding invoices.
  • Document your required 15 CEUs in the online Registrant Portal.
  • Confirm you have worked a minimum of 420 practice hours in the past two calendar years.
  • Save a digital copy of all required documentation, including your professional liability insurance policy certificate and first aid & CPR certification (if applicable)

 

Documenting Learning Activities

All registered pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are required to complete 15 CEUs between December 1, 2023 and November 30, 2024 to be eligible to renew their annual registration for 2025. A minimum of 7.5 CEUs must be accredited and the remaining may be either accredited or self-assigned.

For additional information on professional development requirements, please refer to the following:

All documentation for each learning activity must be entered in the online Registrant Portal prior to renewing your registration. Once submitted, the records will no longer be able to be edited.

Please refer to the Registrant Portal User Guide – Adding Professional Development Activities for instructions and tips on entering professional development in the online Registrant Portal,

 

 

Required Documents

Professional Liability Insurance

All registered pharmacy professionals are required to maintain professional liability insurance (PLI) in a form and amount satisfactory to CPNL and to ensure a current copy of their professional liability insurance is uploaded to the Registrant Portal within 30 days of the policy renewal or start date.

For more information, please refer to the Professional Liability Insurance Requirements for Registration Interpretation Guide.

As part of the online renewal process, you must review your insurance documentation to ensure it is current. Please check the PLI certificate on file to confirm it is accurate and up to date. If your policy has expired, you are required to update both the policy details and the certificate on file.

Please refer to the Registrant Portal User Guide – Adding & Updating Professional Liability Insurance for instructions and tips on entering professional liability insurance in the online Registrant Portal.

 

First Aid & CPR Certification

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who are authorized to administer drug therapy by inhalation or injection must upload proof of current first aid and CPR certification.

 

 

BEFORE YOU RENEW THE PHARMACY LICENCE

  • Pharmacists in charge must renew their personal registration before renewing the pharmacy licence.
  • Confirm the method of payment with the owner to ensure sufficient time is allotted to receive the payment from the owner and send it to CPNL prior to the renewal deadline.
  • Information you will need to renew the pharmacy licence:

 

 

MedSTEP NL – NIDR Data-Sharing Agreements

The full implementation deadline for MedSTEP NL was July 1, 2024. As of that date, all community pharmacies were expected to actively participate in continuous quality improvement and report medication incidents and near-misses to the National Institute Data Repository (NIDR). All pharmacies now have a data-sharing agreement with the NIDR to allow for this.

At this time, CPNL would like to remind pharmacy professionals that new data-sharing agreements are required under the following circumstances: change in pharmacist-in-charge, change in pharmacy ownership, or change in medication-incident reporting platform. If a new data-sharing is required, please contact the NIDR team at nidr@ismpcanada.com to start the process.

 

IAC Seeking Applications for Public Representatives for NLPB Board and Disciplinary Panel

If you are aware of any person who would be interested in either of the positions listed below, we encourage you to share this information.

The Independent Appointments Commission is seeking interested public members to serve as public representatives with the College of Pharmacy of Newfoundland and Labrador (formerly, Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board) on its Disciplinary Panel and Board of Directors.

These positions cannot be held by pharmacists or pharmacy technicians but rather by individuals with diverse backgrounds and skill sets who can bring patient and other perspectives. These skill sets and areas of experience include but are not limited to governance, human rights, legal expertise, ethics, conflict resolution, business or public administration, human resources, finance, or human resources.

For more information regarding the three vacant positions on the Disciplinary Panel, visit https://www.exec-abc.gov.nl.ca/public/agency/detail/?id=635

For more information regarding the vacant position on the Board of Directors, visit https://www.exec-abc.gov.nl.ca/public/agency/detail/?id=636

 

 

 

 

Regular reminders

  • Scheduling Appointments with Staff – NLPB staff are here to assist and support you. If you wish to meet with a staff member in person, please call to schedule an appointment before visiting our office. Having details regarding your inquiry will help us appropriately prioritize and prepare to answer your question if we need to collect additional information before calling you back or meeting with you. If you are unable to reach the staff person by phone, please leave a detailed message. Voicemails are regularly checked, and staff members get email alerts when a message is left on their phone line.
  • Registrant Contact Information – Registrants are responsible for ensuring that the contact information on their registrant profile, including email address and practice site, is accurate at all times. The NLPB primarily uses email communication to send newsletters, renewal reminders, practice site assessment information, professional development audit information, calls for interest for committees, and other alerts. If the email address on file is incorrect, important information may be missed and/or disclosed to the wrong person. If your contact information changes, please update your information on file by logging into the NLPB Registrant Portal.

This e-newsletter contains information on a wide variety of topics intended to enhance the practice of pharmacy in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. As it is published and circulated to all registrants on a monthly basis, it is the expectation of CPNL that all registrants are aware of the matters contained therein.

©2024 Newfoundland & Labrador Pharmacy Board