Pharmacy professionals play an important role in patient care at the William Osler Health Centre, providing service to the various program areas. 

Pharmacists ensure safe, appropriate and cost-effective drug therapy is provided to all patients through the provision of pharmaceutical care.  Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians work together to support a safe and effective drug distribution system.

To ensure patient safety, the pharmacist:

• Reviews medication orders prior to administration for appropriateness, completness, accuracy and adherence to institutional drug use guidelines.
• Performs a preliminary assessment of each patient assigned to his/her care in order to determine if the patient requires more comprehensive pharmaceutical care.
• Communicates with patients (individually or in groups) and family members, as needed to educate them on the safe and effective use of their medication while in hospital or after discharge.
• Provides drug information to physicians, nurses, allied health professionals and patients. 
• Evaluates and provides unbiased drug information in a manner suitable for the recipient's use
•  Provides education to the health care team (publications, inservices, rounds, presentations) as needed on the use of drug therapy.
• Monitors patients during their stay in hospital. 

Pharmacists are partners in multidisciplinary patient care teams.  They work closely with physicians, nurses and allied health professionals to manage patients' medication regimens while in hospital.  Aside from direct patient care, pharmacists are involved in many aspects of staff education and patient safety.  These include serving on committees, looking at ways to reduce adverse medication events, formal and informal education for staff about drug products and protocols, and reviewing how drug products are being prescribed to ensure they are used appropriately and effectively.  They collaborate with physicians to implement evidence-based protocols and guidelines and the Pharmacy Department also works with community physicians or pharmacists as needed to ensure a seamless continuum of care for patients. 

All pharmacists at William Osler Health Centre work in accordance with the standards set out by their regulatory body, the Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP), the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP) and the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA).

Pharmacy Technicians have an important role in ensuring that the prescribed drugs are available for the nurses to give to patients.  They process orders for oral, topical and intravenous medications and prepare them so that patients can receive their medications in a timely fashion.  They are also responsible for quality control measures to improve patient safety and efficiency within the drug distribution system.  Pharmacists rely on Pharmacy Technicians for the distribution aspect of pharmacy so that they in turn are able to spend more time optimizing drug therapies.

Professional Links:

Ontario College of Pharmacists www.ocpinfo.com
Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists    www.cshp.ca
National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities    www.napra.org
Canadian Institute for Safe Medication Practice www.ismp-canada.org
Institute for Safe Medication Practice (US)   www.ismp.org