EAHP EU Monitor 11 March 2013

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Pan-European survey shows more still to do in order to achieve inter-professional collaboration 

The results of a pan-European survey of community and hospital pharmacists has revealed there is still much to be done in order to achieve the vision of good inter-sector and inter-professional collaboration in the care of patients, particularly in relation to the management of changes made to a patient’s medication.

Europharm Forum and the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) conducted a 2 month survey of pharmacist practitioners from across Europe in both the community and hospital sector. The survey focused on issues of communication between sectors and professionals and achieved over 500 responses from 35 countries.

The headline results reveal:

• 50% of responding community pharmacists indicated that they considered there to be no existing professional relationship between themselves and colleagues in the hospital sector;
• Yet, 75% of respondents believed that communication between pharmacists in the hospital and community sectors is essential or important to patient care (e.g. in relation to communicating medication changes);
• 71% of respondents considered that patients were not adequately counselled about their medications on discharge from hospital
• The 3 main cited barriers to communication between hospital and community sectors were, in order: lack of electronic information sharing systems; lack of time; and, not considered a core part of current practice.

Commenting on the results, Dr. Roberto Frontini, President of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists, said:

“These results indicate again the timeliness of the theme of this week’s EAHP Congress, ‘Improving patient outcomes: a shared responsibility’. Study after study has revealed the value to improving outcomes from medication when professionals communicate well with each other and pharmacists become part of an integrated multi-disciplinary team, contributing the full value of their knowledge about medications and medication use. Yet our survey reveals there is still much to be done to turn the vision into reality.

In an era when the spotlight on health spending efficacy shines brighter than ever, integrating the pharmacist into processes to ensure adequate medication reconciliation and counselling can no longer be seen as optional. It is a necessity for better care and better outcomes, especially so as we embark on the collective challenge of an ageing population.”

More information here.

Commission publish new information on pharmacovigilance black symbol

The European Commission has published further information about the operation of a new pan-European black symbol to denote medicines subject to additional monitoring after authorisation.

The black symbol, in the form of an inverted equilateral triangle, is being introduced as part of the implementation of European pharmacovigilance legislation adopted by the European Union in 2010.

Under the new rules, medicinal products that are subject to additional monitoring after they have been placed on the market must be identified. Based on the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency, the Commission chose a black inverted triangle as the symbol to appear in product information, including the leaflet inside the medicine pack.

On 7 March 2013 the Commission adopted an implementing regulation confirming the choice of symbol, and published a question and answer document for stakeholder information.

Question and answer document here.

Implementing regulation here.