B.C. launches online system for booking appointments with pharmacists

Starting Thursday morning, British Columbians will be able to book appointments online with pharmacists to access prescription medication for several minor ailments and illnesses.

The system will be available on the provincial government website at gov.bc.ca/seeapharmacist as of Thursday, June 29. British Columbians will still be able to book appointments with pharmacists in person or by phone.

At some pharmacies, you may be able to walk in and receive a prescription.

The online booking system will allow people to search for available dates and times for an appointment at nearby pharmacies based on the kind of ailment they're seeking treatment for or contraceptive they wish to be prescribed. 

The new system launches nearly a month after pharmacists in the province were first given expanded abilities to prescribe medications for minor ailments, which include acne, shingles or urinary tract infections. They are also able to prescribe contraception. 

A list of the types of ailments that qualify for a pharmacist's prescription is available here.

At a news conference to announce the new booking system on Wednesday, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said more than 25,000 people across the province saw a pharmacist for treatment of a minor ailment in the first month of the program.

"We're recognizing the realities faced by families [and] seniors trying to access health care and the challenge that our health-care system and health-care systems across Canada have faced post-pandemic," Premier David Eby told reporters.

"It can be a hassle to get a prescription from a doctor for something routine, something like contraception or something minor like allergies. We're all better off when we can ease the pressure on our health-care system as a whole. It takes pressure off our emergency rooms and limited resources in the health-care system while still delivering quick access to people for the care they need."

The B.C. College of Family Physicians estimates nearly a million B.C. residents have no access to a family doctor. Meanwhile, a poll out of the Angus Reid Institute last September estimated nearly 60 per cent of people in the province found it difficult to access a family doctor or didn't have one at all.

Eby said pharmacists have a key role in helping British Columbians access care and are easily accessible to most people around the province.

"We're open after hours and on weekends, so patients can come in to see us when and where they need the help," said B.C. Pharmacy Association president Chris Chiew.

Chiew noted that on the very first day of the new program that allows pharmacists to issue prescriptions, some pharmacies reported people waiting outside their doors before they opened to access medication.

Likewise, he said, some pharmacies saw multiple patients in the evening — when other clinics nearby would have been closed or full. 

The new responsibilities come after changes last October that allowed pharmacists to administer more vaccines and to renew prescriptions for people whose family doctors have retired or left their practices.

Doctors of B.C. president Dr. Joshua Greggain said the province is experiencing a crisis of primary care access — and pharmacists can be a valuable tool in combating that.

"I think nobody feels the [issue of] access to family doctors more than the family doctors or the physicians of this province. Specialists, patients, family doctors are all trying to get different access to care than what we currently have," Greggain said.

"As there's an opportunity to add further team players, I think that's generally a good thing. However, how it's done— ensuring that it's done safely and ensuring it's done collectively and collaboratively — is really important. The last thing we need is further fragmentation."

He noted that the online booking system itself seems effective and efficient for patients and said he hopes that it's a sign that similar systems will be established at some point in the future for doctors' offices and health-care centres.

As for the prescribing powers afforded to pharmacists — Greggain said that, for the most part, the new responsibilities deal with drugs that would be similar to over-the-counter medications, and he's not concerned about those.

"I think the challenge, of course, is that pharmacists don't necessarily have the diagnostic tools or the diagnostic understanding to be able to do that efficiently for certain things like bladder infections or birth control," he said.

"It's hugely important for patients, specifically women on birth control or with bladder infections, to be able to get the care that they need."