Ontario starting consultations on adding lice, insomnia and more to list of ailments patients can get treatment for at pharmacies

The Ontario government says it is starting consultations on adding 14 more common ailments to the list of health issues that Ontarians can get treatment for at a pharmacy.

"Starting today, our government is beginning consultations with partners such as the Ontario Pharmacists Association and the Neighborhood Pharmacies Association of Canada on ways to leverage the skills and expertise of pharmacists to continue making pharmacies a one stop shop for more convenient care closer to home," Health Minister Sylvia Jones said.

She said the consultations will look at treating and prescribing at pharmacies for ailments such as sore throat, head lice and minor sleep disorders like insomnia, as well as ordering and collecting tests and for more illnesses such as strep throat. Administering additional publicly funded vaccines at pharmacies, including tetanus and shingle shots, will also be looked at.

In January 2023 the province made changes to allow pharmacists to treat and prescribe for 19 common ailments, such as rashes, insect bites and simple urinary tract infections.

Jones said Wednesday that over a million assessments have been completed at pharmacies since the program began.

"With 99 per cent of pharmacies participating in the program, pharmacist prescribing has been a huge success in Ontario," she said. "In less than one year, Ontario has become one of the leading jurisdictions in all of Canada in providing health-care services through our pharmacies, making accessing faster and easier than ever."

The new round of consultations will also look at improving Ontario's MedsCheck program, which provides a one-to-one consultation between pharmacists and eligible patients for approximately 20–30 minutes once a year to help them comply with prescription medications and better understand how the medications interact with each other.

"MedsCheck began almost a decade ago, and it is an appropriate time for us to review that program to ensure that it is continuing to add the value and has the patient focus that it needs," Jones said.

Jones did not provide a clear answer when asked multiple times whether pharmacist billing for the consultations will be the same or less than what doctors currently bill for those services.

"The consultation that we are announcing today has nothing to do with the fee component," she said. "We are talking to the public and the OMA (Ontario Medical Association), the Ontario Pharmacy Association, to make sure that the proposal of 14 new expanded scope of practice are the appropriate ones for us to move forward on. It is a separate and distinct difference between any conversations about compensation."

Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, spoke alongside Jones and welcomed the new consultations.

"That is a great service model and I think most importantly, we know that we can do this safely and effectively," Bates said. "Many other jurisdictions in Canada and indeed across the world have been doing these types of services through pharmacies for a number of years."

He said the consultations will help "reduce unnecessary service duplication and administrative red tape, while continuing to protect patient choice."