Pharmacist walk-in clinics in Nova Scotia successfully divert patients from emergency departments

Earlier this year, Sobeys and Lawtons Drugs launched its Pharmacist Walk-in Clinic+ (PWIC+)—the first collaborative clinics of this kind in Canada. Each clinic paired a pharmacist and nurse practitioner to allow both a greater scope. They were supported through a partnership with the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub. Recent research into their effectiveness has found that they seem to be working. More than 85% of the patients who went to the clinic didn’t have a primary care provider, and more than 70% of them had at least one chronic disease. Read: Nova Scotia NDP calls for urgent action on overcrowding and understaffing in ERs Most (90%) of the clinics’ patients said they strongly agreed that the clinics made it was easier for them to get care closer to home, and 94% said their overall experience with the clinics was very good. In addition, more than 65% of those served said they would have gone to the emergency department for care if the clinic hadn’t been there. “By pairing a nurse practitioner with the pharmacist in the clinical setting we can provide trusted, appropriate and timely access to care. And we have the data to show it is diverting unnecessary visits to emergency departments, adding capacity to our province’s healthcare system, and most importantly, helping people get the healthcare they need,” Vivek Sood, executive vice-president of Related Businesses for Sobeys Inc., said in a press release. About 10% of Nova Scotians do not have a primary-care provider, and, like in other parts of the country, that lack of access to care has led to things like emergency departments treating non-urgent care issues. At the same time, there are more than 1,000 pharmacists in the province, across 300 community pharmacies. The program may be expanded further throughout the province as a result. “This initiative has already yielded a policy recommendation around funding for pharmacist-delivered health services which will improve access to care throughout the province,” said Dr. Gail Tomblin Murphy, Vice President, Research, Innovation and Discovery and chief nurse executive at Nova Scotia Health. Read: Nova Scotia pharmacies testing out attached walk-in clinic with nurse practitioner, pharmacist teams

Pharmacist walk-in clinics in Nova Scotia successfully divert patients from emergency departments

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics