By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

Pharmacists say fee cuts will harm patient care

Apr 19, 2018 | 12:35 PM

LETHBRIDGE – It’s described as an extremely complex issue. But pharmacists in Alberta are hoping fee changes announced by the province will be reversed.

Pharmacists in Lethbridge and other Alberta cities marched to draw attention to the issue Thursday, April 19. The group made their way from Galt Gardens through downtown Lethbridge to the office of MLA Shannon Phillips.

“None of us really expected that the NDP government would cut $115 million from pharmacies, and we are hoping today that we can get them to come back into the room with our association and discuss the current funding plan,” explained Jaclyn Katelnikoff, a clinical pharmacist at Stafford Pharmacy. “It’s not really a long-term sustainable plan for pharmacy.”

According to the group Pharmacists of Alberta Unite, the changes will actually lead to either diminished services or higher bills to the patients themselves.

“We’ll no longer have the resources to continue to do the extremely high level of care that we practice in Alberta,” Katelnikoff said, adding the province is a leader in allowing pharmacists to provide more services such as write prescriptions and provide injections. “We can’t do that if we don’t have the resources to continue to do so.”

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Katelnikoff said the costs faced by pharmacists are high, including liability coverage for those additional services, and their practices can’t be compared with other provinces. She added while they don’t exactly know how it will come out, she expects independent pharmacy owners will be looking at hour cuts and wage cuts.

As a staff pharmacist, she worries she won’t be able to provide the same level of care.

“Three months ago, I had a patient who had some addictions, and he needed his medications to be released every day, or he would be at risk of harming himself. We can’t do that anymore. Now, the government says I have to release them every two weeks, or I just have to pay for it myself.

“It’s putting our most needed population at risk, and they need our help the most right now, during an opioid crisis, and that’s not the way to go.”

In March the government announced a new framework, reached with the Alberta Pharmacists’ Association, suggesting the new fees could save seniors as much as $100 per year, while saving the government $150 million over two years.