Pharmacy Check-in: Leslie Howard Lloy

Leslie Howard Lloy, BScPharm (she/her)
Pharmacy Manager, Shoppers Drug Mart New Glasgow
New Glasgow, NS

Leslie Howard Lloy currently practises within the Community Pharmacy Primary Care Clinic at Shoppers Drug Mart New Glasgow. She works in both the clinic and the dispensary where the pharmacy team serves the communities of Pictou County. Leslie loves working in the clinic as there is a shortage of family physicians in the area, and she feels that they help many people manage their chronic diseases as well as minor ailments.

Leslie relocated just over 2 years ago from Cumberland county, and currently lives in New Glasgow with her partner Steve and their 4 children. When she’s not in the pharmacy or taking the kids to sports activities, she enjoys the music scene in Pictou and sings in a local band.

Q&A with Leslie

We caught up with Leslie in advance of Pharmacy Appreciation Month to talk about her role as the clinic/pharmacy manager at one of Nova Scotia’s Community Primary Care Clinics, how the clinics are helping patients and what the power of pharmacy means to her.

This year’s Pharmacy Appreciation Month (PAM) theme is “The power of pharmacy.” What does that mean to you?

To me, the Power of Pharmacy means emphasising pharmacists’ ever-expanding scope of practice and what the pharmacy team can do for our patients. Our roles have evolved significantly in health care over the past few years to enable us to help patients more than ever before.

Pharmacists are taking on greater roles in primary care settings. Tell us about your role as a pharmacist in a Community Pharmacy Primary Care Clinic (CPPCC).

I am the clinic/pharmacy manager and I currently work in the clinic one day per week. Each one of our pharmacists rotates through the clinic weekly so we all are comfortable with the assessment/prescribing role. We assess and prescribe for minor ailments, including urinary tract and strep throat infections among many others. We also manage patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, COPD, etc. We can also take care of renewing maintenance medications as well. I also have CPAMS certification and do INR/warfarin therapy management for patients. 

What are you hearing from patients about accessing expanded primary care services at CPPCC sites? What are you hearing from other health-care professionals?

I would say patients love the clinic! They are constantly providing positive feedback about how quick and easy it was to get an appointment, how efficiently their minor ailment/problem/refill request was addressed and are pleasantly surprised with our scope of practice, including lab ordering to monitor their current health conditions.

What is one thing you wish all patients knew about what pharmacists can do?

I feel like many patients don't realize that not only can we prescribe and renew maintenance medications, but we can also change the doses and/or add on medications if needed in many chronic disease states, as well as follow them regularly through the clinic.

What is the most rewarding element of your pharmacy practice?

I love being involved in the clinic! It is an absolute pleasure helping patients who don't have many other options. I am able to renew medications for people who don't have access to family doctor or nurse practitioner. I love saving a mom or dad from sitting with a sick child in the emergency room for many hours when I can do a 6-minute Group A Strep test and have them out the door with a prescription in hand in less than an hour. I love getting to know my patients better and better every day doing medication reviews and always finding something in our conversation that can make a difference for their well-being.

What makes you proud to be a pharmacist?

I love being a part of such a dynamic profession. I feel pharmacists should be very proud of stepping up to meet health-care demands in this province. Whenever we have been asked as a profession to provide additional services to help patients, we have accepted every challenge and have exceeded expectations! We are making a difference in the way Nova Scotians access health care, and I am proud to be a part of that!