EAHP represents over 29,000 hospital pharmacists across 36 member countries. EAHP represents and develops the hospital pharmacy profession within Europe in order to ensure the continuous improvement of care and outcomes for patients in the hospital setting. This is achieved through science, research, education, practice, as well as sharing best-practice and responsibility with other healthcare professionals.
The EAHP Board, elected for three-year terms, oversees the association’s activities. Comprising directors responsible for core functions, it meets regularly to implement strategic goals. Supported by EAHP staff, the Board controls finances, coordinates congress organization, and ensures compliance with statutes and codes of conduct.
The EAHP staff supports the Board in executing EAHP’s mission. The Staff assists in financial management, events organisations, policy activities and all EAHP projects. The EAHP staff works closely with EAHP’s members and ensures the effective communication all relevant stakeholders.
The first member countries were Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany and The Netherlands in 1972. EAHP has now 36 EAHP members and 2 Associate Members. EAHP is open to countries members of the Council of Europe and since 2022 to organisations representing the interests of hospital pharmacists from outside the Council of Europe (Associate Membership)
EAHP’s structure is also composed by different standing committes: EAHP Scientific Committee, EAHP Education Executive Committee and the EAHP CTF Steering Committee.
Keep up with all EAHP’s events and webinars. Contact the team at info@eahp.eu should you have any questions about upcoming events or activities.
Here you can find all upcoming events organised by EAHP and by all its members and associate members. Do not hesitate to contact the events team at events@eahp.eu should you have any questions about the organisation of these events.
Hospital pharmacists conduct a critical role in the care of patients in hospitals. Learn more about what they do here and in all the pages under Hospital Pharmacy practice and Policy.
Self-Assessment
SILCC
Closed SIGs
EAHP brings together experts from many areas of hospital pharmacy practice providing and highlighting good local sustainable practices as that can be up-scaled and shared with other countries. The EAHP Working Group on Sustainability has the aim of reducing the environmental burden of the hospital pharmacy services.
The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP), and its 36 member country platforms are creating a Common Training Framework for the hospital pharmacy education in Europe. The goal of this project is to allow the free movement of hospital pharmacists within the European Union.
The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) and the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy (ESCP) have collaboratively developed the Oath to Society. The Oath to Society is all encompassing and acts as a contract for excellence in providing compassionate patient care, working as part of the healthcare team and advancing the pharmacy profession, and showcasing how clinical and hospital pharmacists work every day
A day created to highlight the importance and to celebrate the work done by hospital pharmacies. This day celebrates all hospital pharmacy teams.
Catch up with EAHP’s press releases
Find all EAHP relevant publication like the EAHP Surveys, annual reports and the history books.
The European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (EJHP) is the only official journal of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) and is committed to advancing the science, practice and profession of hospital pharmacy. As the premier communication platform for hospital pharmacists worldwide, EJHP is a major source for continuing education as well as updates on advances in the practice and standard of pharmaceutical care for patients.
When EAHP and Hospital pharmacists appear in the news.
EAHP publishes a monthly EU monitor with updates about the latest EAHP initiatives and information relevant for the hospital pharmacy profession.
Sponsor Channel
The Sponsor Channel is designed to maximise visibility and engagement, allowing sponsors to connect with the hospital pharmacy community and partners in a dynamic and interactive environment. From product demonstrations to networking sessions, the Sponsor Channel offers a range of opportunities for sponsors to showcase their offerings and generate leads in the new EAHP Website.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Ariadna Martin Torrente , Itziar Palacios Zabalza, María Olatz Ibarra Barrueta, Maialen Palacios Filardo, Garazi Miron Elorriaga
To optimise the functioning and the management of the procedures and an accessible and effective communication system in the PS. Moreover, the quality of the shipment is guaranteed all the time. The development of a circuit has allowed being faster and more efficient during its preparation than before.
Establishing the circuit of execution, preparation, distribution, and delivery of medicine to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) from the Pharmaceutical Service (PS) of a tertiary hospital in the Basque Country (Spain). The circuit has been designed taking into account the criteria in a context of humanitarian donations, published and updated by the Spanish Agency of Drugs and Sanitary Products (AEMPS) on 16 March 2022
Since it has been included in the daily activity of the service it has cause and increase its amount of work, hence, daily routine tasks have been slowed down, given the increase of petitions the hospital has had during last year. However, its creation has allowed being faster and more efficient during its preparation.
The circuit begins with the request of NGO, which has to be authorised by the hospital’s directory. Then, in the procedure participate pharmacists; pharmacy technicians and office clerks who prepare the donation rely on the personalised list that the donation has created. Once, the necessary documents are filled out and they are sent to the AEMPS.
From November 2021 to September 2022, 7 donations have been carried out; these contained 100 active ingredients, concretely 15.198 units. We could find most of them in the WHO model lists of essential medicines. The NGO’s destinations have been Guatemala, Romania, Ukraine and Senegal. The medications sent most according to the ATC classification were 21% anti-infective medicines, 17% cardiovascular, 13% nervous system, 12% systemic hormonal preparations and 3% alimentary tract and metabolism.
The project is easily enforceable in any Spanish PS that is willing to process a donation at any given occasion. Some of our ideas for the future are the creation of a standard list including common medications, avoiding personalised lists, in addition to connect it to our internal programme to be faster when preparing the donation.
Production and Compounding
Quentin Misandeau, Romain Bosc, Muriel Paul, Valérie Archer, Lionel Tortolano
The plastic surgery department bought two 3D printers in order to design and create custom-made medical devices. The main objective was to decrease the delay between mandibular cancer diagnosis and the surgery. The delays of production in the medical device manufacturers may exceed 2 weeks. Those delays are considered as a lost of chance for the patients.
We helped our surgeons to secured the production procedure and reduce the risks for patients. We create a management quality system for supply, production, sterilization and using of our homemade personalized 3D printed guides.
First, we created a task force of pharmacist and surgeons.
The main work was a risk analysis with the FMECA method for all the steps in the procedure (software, tools, actors and materials).
Some correctives actions were taken. The riskier points were the plastic materials toxicity risk, the sterilization procedure that has been validated and the production traceability. A biocompatibility evaluation was performed. A clinical evaluation has been initiated in the same period.
Since the new medical device regulatory (2017 /745 CE) was published in 2017, the article five, that regulate the 3D printing in hospital, changes the possibilities. In fact, as personalized 3D printed guides are available on the EU market, homemade personalized 3D printed guides for mandibular reconstruction could be not authorized anymore. The only way would be for the hospital to obtain the regulatory statut of manufacturer and comply with the essential requirements.
Production and Compounding
Katrine Bødker Rubach-Larsen, Anne Rungø, Anette Eskildsen, Lone Skovhauge
A research team at the MR Centre (MRC2) wished to set up the production of Pharmacy Kits, but had no prior experience of, or licence to, manufacture drugs. Thus, the hospital pharmacy was asked to participate in the development of such production.
A new MR-scanning technology, hyperpolarisation, for the quantification of metabolic processes with an extremely high sensitivity enables physicians early detection of treatment effects in, for example, cancer and diabetes. A so-called Pharmacy Kit is used in the hyperpolarisation process and consists of a specially designed packaging with tubes, vessels and filters containing the contrast agent and buffer solutions. The objective for the hospital pharmacy1 was to manufacture Pharmacy Kits complying with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), though neither packaging nor two of the raw materials conformed to European standards.
The MRC research team presented the hospital pharmacy with the desired combination of compounds and the packaging required for Pharmacy Kit production. The task for the hospital pharmacy was then to set up a manufacturing process that met these requirements and complied with the guidelines for GMP. A production complying with GMP was developed in close collaboration with the MRC and an ongoing contact with the Danish Medicines Agency. During the process the hospital pharmacy carried out its own microbiology test in order to determine if, and for how long, the non-CE-marked packaging could store the contrast agent and buffer solutions. Risk assessment of the raw materials not found in the European Pharmacopeia were conducted. The method investigated by the MRC already takes place at a few other places in and outside of Europe. Experiences from these production sites were implemented and expanded with process optimisation, and specially designed equipment for the production.
Due to a strong inter-professional collaboration between the MRC and the hospital pharmacy and due to qualified risk assessments, it was possible to set up a production of Pharmacy Kits according to GMP.
When researchers contact hospital pharmacies with new ideas, we have to be willing to work with GMP in a different way by applying knowhow and risk assessments in order to ensure developments within the healthcare system.
1. Hospital Pharmacy Central Region, Production, Aarhus, Denmark.
2. MR Centre, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
