IG2 – How to survive with limited resources without letting the patients down

Linked to EAHP Statements

Section 1 – Introductory Statements and Governance: Statements 1.3, 1.4, 1.5
Section 5 – Patient Safety and Quality Assurance: Statement 5.1

ACPE UAN: 0475-0000-22-005-L04-P. A knowledge-based activity.

Abstract

Although the economic crisis formally ended almost a decade ago, many countries in Europe still live under strict budgetary constraints and healthcare systems are deeply affected by these changes. Hospitals have also had to implement policies to manage tough budget constraints and hospital pharmacies are often at the back of the queue of all hospital needs.

What options are there to continue the development of hospital pharmacies and implement the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy into daily life? How can hospital pharmacists improve patients’ treatment outcomes in these circumstances? Is it possible to balance limited resources and ethical aspects? 

This seminar attempts to give answers to these questions by presenting different viewpoints from two different stakeholders in the health system: hospital pharmacist and hospital manager.

Learning objectives
After the session, participants should be able to:

• Describe how limited resources could affect patient treatment outcomes
• Identify how budgetary constraints affect hospital pharmacists’ work
• Discuss how to develop services under these circumstances

Educational need addressed
Hospital pharmacists regularly find themselves having to manage the impact of limited resources. There is, therefore, an educational need for being informed about these issues and then to set up processes inside and outside hospital pharmacy to find ways to solve these issues.

Keywords: Hospital pharmacist, inequality, patient care, limited resources, collaboration with different stakeholders.