From 8 to 10 June, the members of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) gathered in Krakow, Poland for their 53rd General Assembly to discuss the evolving role of the hospital pharmacist and the future development of the Association.

EAHP is delighted to announce that Dr Nenad Miljković has been elected as the next President of EAHP, commencing a 3-year term of office in June 2024. He will now serve as President-Elect during the final year of András Süle's presidency. Dr Miljković is the Head of the Hospital Pharmacy Services at the Institute of Orthopaedics Banjica in Belgrade, Serbia. He obtained his PhD degree in Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Belgrade in 2021 for health risk assessment in medicine shortages in cooperation with KU Leuven. In addition to his pharmacy degree with a specialisation in clinical pharmacy, he holds a dual Master's degree in European Public Health at the University of Sheffield, School of Health and Related Research and at the University Sorbonne Paris Cite, French School of Public Health. Since 2018 Dr Miljković is the President of the Hospital Pharmacy Section of Serbia and the founder of the European Public Health Student and Alumni Association. He joined EAHP's Board of Directors in June 2017 and he took over the role of Director of Finances in October 2020.

Speaking after his election Dr Nenad Miljković outlined that his presidency would be concentrating on "Building and strengthening an integrated hospital pharmacy care system driven by patients' needs and open to close cooperation with fellow healthcare professionals across European hospitals."

The position of Director of Finance was taken over by Dr Louis Bertin. He works as a Hospital Practitioner at the Centre Hospitalier de Montreuil-sur-Mer (CHAM) and the Chief Pharmacist of Hesdin Hospital.

Three new position papers were adopted by EAHP's General Assembly focusing on Digital Health, the Hospital Pharmacy Workforce, and Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Resistance. In addition, the Position Paper on Biosimilar Medicines received a technical update. The Position Paper on Digital Health concentrates on the urgent need for investments to improve the digital infrastructure in hospitals, the potential of digitalisation for improving patient safety and facilitating patient empowerment as well as the role of training and hospital pharmacist's involvement in information and communication technology design and implementation. Actual and future needs of the pharmacy workforce, short-term measures for managing workload and improving pharmacy staffing and recovery as well as long-term measures for securing an adaptable, versatile and resilient workforce are covered by the Position Paper on the Hospital Pharmacy Workforce. The Position Paper on Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Resistance touches on antimicrobial stewardship, the One Health Approach and incentives for addressing the lack of antibiotic development and keeping old and established but still essential antibiotics on the market.

During the General Assembly, delegates discussed the revision of the General Pharmaceutical Legislation and received updates on EAHP's educational activities, including the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy, the Common Training Framework for hospital pharmacy specialisation, the Oath to Society and the Working Group on Sustainability.

In addition to a new President-Elect, EAHP's General Assembly also welcomed one new full member and two new associate member associations. With the addition of the Cyprus Society of Hospital Pharmacists – which was represented by its President Stravroula Kitiri during the General Assembly – EAHP now represents hospital pharmacists in all EU countries. The new associate member associations include the Algerian Society of Oncology and Hospital Pharmacy (SAPHO) and the Association of Chemistry and Pharmacy of Uruguay (AQFU).