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Green Team clinical pharmacy and pharmacology of a university hospital in the Netherlands: towards sustainable clinical pharmacy

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European Statement

Clinical Pharmacy Services

Author(s)

Patricia Van den Bemt, Thijs Oude Munnink

Why was it done?

Healthcare is responsible for an important part of the carbon footprint and medication production and use contribute substantially to this footprint. In line with Green Teams being established in all layers of society at the moment, the UMCG departments were also starting to implement such teams. The CPP was among the first departments establishing such a Green Team in order to reduce the footprint of medication use.

What was done?

The department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacology (CPP) is responsible for providing pharmaceutical patient care to all hospitalised and ambulatory patients of the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) in tThe Netherlands. Two years ago, the department has established a Green Team, dedicated to making this pharmaceutical care as sustainable as possible.

How was it done?

The Green Team CPP started in June 2021 with a brainstorm on potential subjects. As the main focus we chose to ‘contribute to sustainable medication use and to reduce disposal’. The team consists of representatives of all CPP sub-departments. Proactive measures and projects were defined, but increasingly the Green Team is being consulted by doctors and nurses regarding issues on sustainable medication use. Department-wide awareness is fuelled by a periodic newsletter.

What has been achieved?

Three projects were conducted: 1) Switching from paracetamol intravenous therapy to oral/rectal therapy (based on doctor’s question); 2) Patient’s own medicine use combined with self-administration of medication (POM/SAM project; based on nurse question); 3) Exploring oral anticancer drug waste by patient interviews (in preparation of improvement measures; proactive Green Team project). The results of these projects are of interest to all European hospital pharmacists and can inspire others to establish Green Teams to contribute to sustainable pharmaceutical care.

What next?

Given the success of the paracetamol project, we will expand this to other intravenous medications. The pilot project on POM/SAM has inspired us to implement POM/SAM within all nursing departments of the UMCG. And the results of the interviews on oral anticancer waste form a solid justification of the necessity of implementation of re-use of medication. In addition, we will continue to perform new proactive projects, aimed at deprescribing (by performing medication reviews), improving medication adherence, optimising the logistics of medication (reducing the amount of medication being dispensed, implementing of ready to administer medication, implementing of pharmacy IV service), reducing medication and financial waste using vial rounding, and proper disposal of medication. We will also continue to be the expert group to which doctors and nurses can direct their questions on sustainable medication use.

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