Myrella Roy
The year 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ debut on the television variety program The Ed Sullivan Show . A neomania then seized a generation of young North American music lovers. Parents were generally immune to the craze, and entertainment critics prophesied the prompt eradication of “Beatlemania”. However, music history proved them wrong: baby boomers and subsequent generations have been humming Beatles’ tunes to this day.
At the end of its 2013/2014 membership year, the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP) had gained 96 members, 12 individual supporters, and 46 student pharmacist supporters over the 2012/2013 year, reaching a total of 3400 members and supporters—a sure sign of pervasive CSHPmania! As one of those who can recall watching that original Beatles’ TV performance, I’d like to hum CSHP’s 2014 accomplishments to some of their songs.
“Here, There and Everywhere”, people are galvanized by the CSHP 2015 project. As of December 2014, almost 250 CSHP members had testified, through photos, about transformations to their pharmacy practice motivated by the program. Nearly 1000 users were following the project on Twitter (@cshp2015). The CSHP 2015 webpages were decked out in new attire at the beginning of the year, offering a wealth of resources, including 56 success stories, 34 virtual posters, 17 webinars, and 3 tool kits.
“How Do You Do It”, compounding? Based on best practices around the world, CSHP’s authoritative 242-page Compounding: Guidelines for Pharmacies should answer most questions on aseptic and nonaseptic compounding of drugs, including radiopharmaceuticals and hazardous drugs, from quality management through environmental monitoring to outsourcing. At the end of “The Long and Winding Road”, the CSHP Board hailed these guidelines as a landmark achievement by the writing team and the Practice Standards Steering Committee. Canadian pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can now “Imagine” how their compounding procedures stack up against best practices and, once equipped with a tool kit founded on the results of a preliminary needs assessment, they can more effectively manage change in compounding activities.
“That Means a Lot”... Thanks to generous sponsorship from Pfizer Canada, CSHP completed 2 important projects. The first entailed a needs assessment for a Society service that would accredit hospital pharmacy departments. Although the environmental scan, which involved interviewing all Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities and surveying Canadian hospital pharmacy directors and managers, did not reveal resounding support, the CSHP Board will consider offering a niche accreditation service to meet pockets of interest in some provinces and types of institutions. The second project led to the creation of an advocacy tool kit to help CSHP and its branches deal more effectively with media communications and government relations. The tool kit describes the workings of government (federal, provincial, and territorial), the elements of a successful advocacy strategy, ways of influencing policy decisions and measuring success, and the development of effective communications, including standard messaging to foster clarity and consistency.
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“With a Little Help from My Friends”, CSHP answered the call for consultation from a variety of friends and stakeholders: Health Canada (on the strengths and weaknesses of the current approach to notification of drug shortages and on a proposal for a risk-based federal regulatory framework to address bulk-scale preparation of commercially compounded drugs), the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (on drafts of its model standards for pharmacy compounding of non-hazardous and hazardous sterile products), and the Ontario College of Pharmacists (through CSHP’s Ontario Branch, on the draft requirements for traceability and labelling of dispensed drugs for pharmacy practice management systems). CSHP also testified, in collaboration with HealthCareCAN, before the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology during hearings on Bill C-17, Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act (Vanessa’s Law), specifically on section 21.8, which will mandate that health care institutions report serious adverse drug reactions and medical device incidents involving a therapeutic product directly to Health Canada (proceedings available at www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/412/soci/20cv-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=41&Ses=2&comm_ id=47); the Act received Royal Assent on November 6, 2014. The Society was involved in numerous other worthy multistakeholder projects, such as the quality and capacity of pharmacy experiential education, led by the Association of Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada, and the need for specialization in pharmacy and the feasibility of a certification system for pharmacist specialists in Canada, led by the Canadian Council on Continuing Education in Pharmacy.
“Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues”, and blues for the Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (CJHP) there will be no longer. For readers unfamiliar with the printing process, the term “blues” (short for “blueprints”) refers to the photographic print yielded by the traditional method to copy documents, which produced white lines on a blue background. The term is still commonly used to mean the final proof of a document before it goes to press, although contemporary printing technology has long since rendered true blueprints obsolete. Publication of the November–December 2014 issue marked the end of the print era for CJHP . Circulation of the Journal solely in electronic format is consistent with the trend among other academic journals and will result in savings of about $80 000 annually (printing and postage costs).
“Getting Better” is what the CSHP eBulletin did in September when it began sporting a new look. Optimized for mobile browsers, the site also looks great on smartphones and tablets! The new platform allows for more timely dissemination of CSHP news and automatic sharing through Facebook and Twitter.
“A Beginning”, that is to say a fresh legal beginning, came to CSHP in 2014. Further to the resolution adopted at the 2013 Annual General Meeting, CSHP filed its amended Bylaw and applied for its Articles of Continuance to Industry Canada. Originally incorporated on March 6, 1950, under the Canada Corporations Act , CSHP received a certificate dated January 30, 2014, attesting that the corporation will continue under the provisions of the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act.
“All Together Now”, CSHP and all of its branches have become one legal entity. Where CSHP’s former Bylaws were silent about governance relationships, the new Bylaw stipulates that the branches are integral parts of CSHP. This better-defined organizational governance is intended to mitigate the legal liability of member volunteers and the Society itself in cases of intentional wrongful acts and breach of contract. To fulfill audit and tax obligations as one entity starting with the 2014/2015 fiscal year, the CSHP staff worked diligently with the branches to centralize all accounting at the national office.
“All I’ve Got to Do”, or rather, what all CSHP staff have to do, was reviewed by external consultants. The review assessed whether staff human resources are optimal for the most responsive and efficient delivery of the Society’s programs and services. The Board is currently strategizing to allow implementation of the consultants’ recommendations.
“Etcetera” was a Beatles track that went unreleased, whereas the following medley highlights a few of many more CSHP achievements that should not go unnoticed. Recognizing the broader pharmacy practice environments where residencies take place, the word “Hospital” was dropped from the name of the Canadian Pharmacy Residency Board. Definitions introduced in CSHP’s new Bylaw have also led to the renaming of the Board of Fellows to the Fellows (FCSHP) Recognition Committee. A new user-friendly online system was introduced to assist with the administration of the general awards program. Lastly, the books on the 2014 Summer Educational Sessions were closed with a surplus in excess of $30 000, rather than the budgeted deficit of $10 750.
“Hello, Goodbye” CSHP staff! We celebrated the 10-year employment anniversary of Robyn Rockwell (Membership and Awards Administrator). We bade farewell to Susan Korporal as Ontario Branch Administrator, thanked Claudette Cella for temporarily assuming this position, and then welcomed Anne Stacey to take on this job. We also said goodbye to Colleen Drake as Publications Administrator and a passing hello to Emily Kitagawa for her transient assistance with some core duties of this position.
“She Loves You”, he loves you, we love you, CSHP! OK, I know I’m not quite impartial, but … yeah, yeah, yeah!
Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy , VOLUME 68 , NUMBER 1 , January-February 2015