Myrella Roy
In 2013, the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP) gained and retained its members’ hearts through their stomachs, cooking as only CSHP and pharmacists know how: combining, mixing, and altering active professional ingredients to prepare customized advocacy strategies, educational programs, networking opportunities, best practices, research grants, and excellence tributes. Check out the following tasting menu of programs and services catered by CSHP for its members and stakeholders.
The mystery box challenged CSHP to respond expeditiously to the repercussions of the chemotherapy underdosing incident in Ontario and New Brunswick, which was disclosed in early April. By July 10, 2013, we had cooked up a storm, by sharing CSHP’s relevant statements and guidelines with Dr Jake Thiessen (independent reviewer of the quality assurance within Ontario’s cancer drug supply chain; see his report at http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/programs/cancer/drugsupply/docs/report_thiessen_oncology_under-dosing.pdf) and by commenting on the regulatory changes and new inspection criteria for drug preparation premises proposed by the Ontario College of Pharmacists and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. We subsequently pulled through the team challenge as a member of Health Canada’s Sub-Working Group to the Ad Hoc Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on Admixing and Compounding: the Sub-Working Group’s recommendations for criteria and definitions to delineate federal and provincial/territorial oversight of manufacturing, compounding, and commercial compounding manufacturing were concocted in a matter of 5 weeks at the height of summer!
CSHP kept its signature drug shortage dish on the menu throughout the year (http://www.cshp.ca/advocacy/CSHPspeaks/drugShortages_e.asp). We partnered with the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) and the Canadian Medical Association to survey our respective members about the impact of drug shortages on the care of patients and the workload of health care providers and to release the aggregated results to the media. As a member of the Multi-Stakeholder Steering Committee on Drug Shortages in Canada (cochaired by Health Canada and, as lead of the Provincial/Territorial Task Force on Drug Shortages, Alberta Health), we contributed to the creation and issuance of the Protocol for the Notification and Communication of Drug Shortages and A Toolkit for Improved Understanding and Transparency of Drug Shortage Response in Canada . In June 2013, we participated in the first-ever International Summit on Medicines Shortage, cohosted by the International Pharmaceutical Federation and CPhA in Toronto, Ontario. During this forum, 46 representatives from governments, professional and regulatory bodies (pharmacists, physicians, and dentists), the pharmaceutical industry and supply chain, and patient organizations discussed the causes and impacts of and solutions to this complex global problem. The Summit culminated in 6 major recommendations for countries around the world to consider adopting, regardless of whether they have experienced major shortages of medicines to date, since the global structure of the medicines supply chain renders most countries similarly vulnerable.
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CSHP members were served a resolution asking them to authorize CSHP Directors to apply to Industry Canada for continuance of the Corporation under the provisions of the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (NFP Act) and to approve the Articles of Continuance and the amended Bylaw at their Annual General Meeting in August 2013. The revised Bylaw had in fact been slow-cooking for 5 years. That work was initially motivated by the need to modernize the Bylaw such that it would better define and support the governance and operational practices of CSHP and its branches. In the meantime, the NFP Act came into force in October 2011. It is designed to increase transparency and accountability, to provide organizations with more modern governance principles, and to confer certain rights to members similar to those enjoyed by shareholders of for-profit corporations. The changes necessary to comply with the NFP Act were incorporated into the draft CSHP Bylaw. In accordance with the resolution adopted by the membership, the amended Bylaw will become effective on May 1, 2014, well ahead of the October 17, 2014, deadline to comply with the NFP Act.
CSHP’s main courses came with a macédoine of other collective achievements. The serving of CSHP 2015 project-related resources was plentiful (http://www.cshp.ca/programs/cshp2015/index_e.asp): 6 Branch success story competitions; launch of the CSHP 2015 eForum, blog, and Twitter account; inaugural CSHP 2015 Hospital Pharmacy Residency Project Award; measure of progress published in the Hospital Pharmacy in Canada Report 2011/2012 , with national and regional updates posted on the CSHP 2015 webpage; 13 virtual posters; third toolkit ( One Dose at a Time: Implementing a Unit-Dose Medication Management System ); 6 webinars; several presentations at conferences; and the third edition of the pharmacy student video competition. Two Official Publications ( Documentation of Pharmacists’ Activities in the Health Record: Guidelines and Clinical Trials: Guidelines for Pharmacies in Healthcare Institutions ) and 2 online courses ( Minimizing the Risk of Contamination in the Oncology Pharmacy Setting and Medication Reconciliation: Doing It Right because It’s the Right Thing to Do! ) were added to the CSHP library. A number of resources were produced to assist in raising awareness of the value of hospital pharmacists and pharmacy services: a 2-minute video; a 30-second high-definition, media-ready clip; and 3 new posters and a brochure. The membership demographics from 2008/2009 to 2012/2013 were analyzed and correlated with a loyalty metric.
CSHP baked a gargantuan cake on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of its Research and Education Foundation. The membership was invited to join in the celebration at the opening reception of the 2013 Summer Educational Sessions in Calgary, last August. The Foundation has awarded a total of $422 281 toward 56 research grants and 7 education grants since 1988. Over the past 10 years, generous donations from the pharmaceutical industry (totalling $595 922), the Society and its branches ($21 391), and individual members ($82 757) have allowed the Foundation to uphold its purposes. You can help the CSHP Foundation to keep up this momentum by participating in the “$25 for 25 Years” fundraising campaign at http://www.cshp-foundation.ca. A $25 donation from every CSHP member would generate over $65 000 for future research and education grants. One of these grants could be for you!
CSHP was invited to potluck consultations with a variety of stakeholders: Accreditation Canada (for the revised Medication Reconciliation at Care Transitions: For the Emergency Department Standards), Health Canada (for the proposed Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations , for the Plain Language Labelling Initiative for prescription and nonprescrip-tion pharmaceuticals and biologics, and for the Draft Revised Guidance Document – Review of Drug Names for Look-alike Sound-alike [LASA] Attributes ), the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (for the draft of Medication Bar Code System Implementation Planning: A Resource Guide ), and the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) (for the final draft of the report entitled Pharmacy Practice Management Systems: Requirements to Support NAPRA Standards of Practice, and for the revised Professional Competencies for Canadian Pharmacists at Entry to Practice and the revised Professional Competencies for Canadian Pharmacy Technicians at Entry to Practice ).
This gastronomic experience would not have been possible without the culinary talents of CSHP staff. We celebrated 5 noteworthy employment anniversaries: 5 years for Olga Chrzanowska (Web Administrator), Colleen Drake (Publications Administrator), and Cathy Lyder (Coordinator of Professional & Membership Affairs), 10 years for Myrella Roy, and 20 years for Gloria Day (Canadian Hospital Pharmacy Residency Board and Advocacy Administrator). We welcomed back Robyn Rockwell (Membership & Awards Administrator) after her pregnancy and parental leave and bade farewell to Cheryl Mallory who had assumed this position on an interim basis. We confirmed Pamela Saunders (Office Administrator with special responsibilities for CSHP 2015 and the Board of Fellows) as a permanent staff member. We wished Laurie Frid (Operations Manager) a speedy recovery and temporarily promoted Desarae Davidson to this position. We hired Susan Maslin as Interim Conference and Pharmacy Specialty Network Administrator and Lisa Graziadei as temporary Controller.
The foregoing is a professional feast that should impress even the most epicurean members! Spread the word about CSHP’s leading influence on the advancement of pharmacy practice in hospitals and other collaborative health care settings in Canada, and entice more pharmacists to our table.
Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy , VOLUME 67 , NUMBER 1 , January-February 2014