July 24, 2020

Friday Five (July 24, 2020)

This week's edition of the Friday Five is now available.

Prescription Forgeries

Forgeries are appearing in community pharmacies with increasing frequency, with more computer-generated prescription forgeries.

Pharmacists are reminded of the following steps that must be taken if a forgery is suspected:

  • Always verify the prescriber’s signature (if the prescription is computer generated, it is often very well done, and the prescriber’s signature is what tips off the forgery). Remember that a computer-generated prescription that is printed and handed to the patient MUST have an original ink signature by the prescriber in order to be valid.
  • Check the patient’s DPIN record, especially for new and inactive patients.
  • Confirm the prescription with the prescriber, using a phone/fax number from another verified source (e.g. the regulatory body’s directory) and not the prescription itself. This becomes of utmost importance with out-of-province prescribers.
  • Keep the prescription if possible. If the patient demands the prescription back, make a photocopy of the prescription and mark the original to alert the next pharmacy the patient may present it.

Note that all forgeries and forgery attempts must be reported to:

It is important to fill out the forgery report as soon as possible in order for the College to send out an alert to all pharmacy managers. When an alert is received, it is the responsibility of the pharmacy manager to ensure all staff are made aware of the forgery, and best practice is to keep this alert on the prescriber’s file for future reference.

For more information, please review the College’s Newsletter article on prescription forgeries from Winter of 2018 here.

Message from the University of Manitoba, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

The Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, Rehabilitation Sciences and Medicine at the University of

Manitoba are conducting a study to better understand how health services is being delivered to refugees in Manitoba, and more specifically to learn more about health care providers’ current knowledge on interprofessional collaborative health care services to refugees. Here is their introduction letter.

All licensed health professionals in medicine, nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy are invited to participate in an anonymous survey that will inform future projects on the delivery of refugee health.

To participate or learn more, please go here.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns that you wish to bring to the research team, you can email Dr. Silvia Alessi-Severini at Silvia.Alessi-Severini@umanitoba.ca.

Reminder: Renew Record and Registry Checks

Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians must refresh criminal record checks, child abuse registry checks and adult abuse registry checks every fifth year.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the College of Pharmacists of Manitoba (CPhM) has revised its submission deadline and process for record and registry checks.

Please be advised of the following:

  1. Deadline

If one or more of your record or registry checks is set to expire by 31st December 2020, you are required to submit refreshed checks by:

Pharmacists:  Friday, 18th September 2020

Pharmacy Technicians:  Wednesday 30th September 2020

  1. The process has changed!

To streamline the process and align the various expiry dates, you are asked to submit all three record and registry checks by the September deadline, regardless of individual document expiry date.  Upon submission of all three record and registry checks in September 2020, your next refresh date of all three checks will be aligned to 2025.

  1. Original documents must be submitted to the CPhM Office.
  2. On-line applications are encouraged.  The following websites qualify:
  3.  Adult and Child Abuse Registry Checks https://manitoba.ca/fs/abuseregistries.html

**All Manitoba residents may apply for Adult and Child Abuse Registry Checks online, regardless of where you live.

Criminal Record Check applications are available online at:  https://www.winnipeg.ca/police/pr/pic.stm#transcript

**You must be a Winnipeg Resident to apply through this site.

  1. Criminal Record Checks for Rural Residents

Rural residents must apply for a criminal record check at either their local RCMP detachment or other local Police Service.  If you live in a rural community with a local police service, you may apply for a criminal record check through your local detachment.  Some examples are:  Brandon Police Service, Altona Police Service, Winkler Police Service.  If you are eligible to apply through a local police service, please see the service-specific website for details.

Pharmacists — Record and registry checks are a legislated obligation to maintain a practice license. Failure to submit the record and registry checks on time will delay license renewal for the 2021 Practice Year and may result in late penalties on your license renewal.

Be aware that record and registry checks may take many weeks to be sent to you by the issuing agencies.

Kindly make arrangements to submit record and registry checks to the College Office as soon as possible.

If you require clarification, please contact the College at info@cphm.ca and staff will assist you.

Interested in Serving as the Pharmacy Technician Liaison to Council?

Council is the governing body of the College which conducts the business affairs and exercises the rights, powers and privileges of the College in accordance with the Pharmaceutical Act. In this respect and in addition to other regulatory functions, Council has the responsibility to approve educational programs, examinations and internship/structured practical training requirements for the registration and licensing of pharmacists and the qualification of pharmacy technicians, approve licensing requirements for pharmacies and approve practice directions to ensure quality pharmacy practice in Manitoba.

As the Pharmacy Technician Liaison, you will serve the important role of bringing the perspective of a practising pharmacy technician to discussions held at Council Meetings. You will be responsible to attend a minimum of five one-day Council Meetings held throughout the year at which time you will participate in discussions and report on the issues at hand facing pharmacy technicians across the province.

The Pharmacy Technician Liaison is a voluntary, non-voting member position on Council.  All pharmacy technicians currently listed or soon-to-be listed with the College are eligible to apply.

If you are interested in applying for the Pharmacy Technician Liaison position on Council, please return an application form, along with your current CV, to Lindsay Henderson (lhenderson@cphm.ca) by no later than July 31, 2020. Please also feel free to contact Lindsay Henderson (lhenderson@cphm.ca) should you have any questions regarding this opportunity.

Staff Update

Thank You and Best Wishes to Jill Hardy

It is with deep gratitude and best wishes that the College announces Deputy Registrar Jill Hardy has resigned to pursue new opportunities. Since joining the College team 6 years ago, Jill has been the driving force behind many of the College’s quality assurance initiatives. Most notably, Jill has taken the lead to revise operations around the College’s Complaints and Discipline processes, strengthen collaborative efforts with our colleagues from the provincial health regulatory bodies and in partnership with experts in the field and College staff, design Manitoba’s community pharmacy continuous quality assurance program, Safety IQ.  While staff will miss being greeted every morning by Jill with her infectious smile, we know that many more great accomplishments lie ahead for her on her new path outside of the College. We will look forward to frequent visits from Jill to catch up on all of her news.

Congratulations to Rani Chatterjee-Mehta

The College is very pleased to announce that Assistant Registrar Rani Chatterjee-Mehta has agreed to take on the challenge and will officially move into her new position as Deputy Registrar with the College on August 17, 2020. Rani brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her position having served as Assistant Registrar since 2017, and prior to joining the College, as a pharmacy manager in community pharmacy practice.  Rani holds a special interest in best practices in regulation and she has brought her expertise in this area to her work in complaints resolution at the College. As a result of Rani’s guidance and the assistance of College staff, patients and the public are better informed about their rights and expectations when filing a complaint with the College, complaint issues are addressed sooner and when appropriate, through an informal resolution process, and members have the opportunity to become involved in the resolution process early on to avoid unnecessary frustrations on all sides of an issue. Please join the College in congratulating Rani on her achievements to date and her new role as Deputy Registrar.