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.
Production and Compounding
Mateja Ljubičić, Mirela Sadiković Tvorić, Mirela Ganza, Mirna Alebić
Minimising quality and safety differences between commercially available medicines and compounded pharmacy preparations depends on the pharmacists’ professional education and skills. The purpose of this initiative is to specify the most common pharmacists’ adjustments of the commercially available medicines and to determine the level of quality assurance and safety measures which should be applied to the hospital pharmacy throughout planning the procurement of installations and equipment.
Our existing computer system does not have the ability to provide information on the compounded pharmacy preparations made in the hospital pharmacy from raw material or commercially available medicines. We have introduced a database for keeping up-to-date records of pharmacy preparations compounded by pharmacists for special needs of paediatric population in the University Hospital Centre Zagreb in a period of 6 months.
The following information on pharmacy preparations were added to the new database: dosage form, dosage strength, shelf life and serial number of the commercial drug or raw material that was used; patient data: name and hospital department unit; and identification of the pharmacist. Data was structured as presented in Table 1. and Table 2.
Pharmacists’ adjustments Total Number
dosage strength Oral divided powders (DPs) 628
dosage form Extemporaneous oral liquids 473
In total 1101
Preparations with HD Aseptic processing Containment Complexity of process
0.05% Cyclosporine eye drops + + 2
1% 5-FU eye drops + + 2
1% Voriconazole ear drops – + 1
Vemurafenib DPs – + 1
Imatinib DPs – + 1
Capecitabine DPs – + 1
Hydroxycarbamide oral suspension – + 1
Tretinoin oral solution – + 1
Keeping up-to-date records improved the traceability inpatient care and reduced the incidence of adverse events. Specific requirements for procurement of equipment for aseptic processing and containment of Hazardous Drug (HD) were successfully recognised.
Harmonisation of standards of pharmacy preparations throughout the country could be enabled by creating a national portfolio of preparations from all hospital pharmacies. This initiative of creating an overview of the pharmacy preparation practice should be considered in other hospitals to guide the pharmacy departments in the developing quality assurance programme.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
DEL RIO GUTIERREZ JOSE MANUEL, MARTA MIARONS FONT, SONIA GARCIA GARCIA, TONI SORIANO COLOMÉ, ALBA PAU PARRA, ARIADNA GRACIA MOYA, NIEVES HERRANZ MUÑOZ, BRUNO MONTORO RONSANO, PAU RELLO SABATE, GERARD ORISTRELL SANTAMARIA, MARIA QUERALT GORGAS TORNER
Digoxin is a drug frequently implicated in medication errors due to its difficult clinical management. It has also been observed that digoxin pharmacokinetics could change in acute medical conditions, compromising its effectiveness and safety. As hospital pharmacists, we have the opportunity to review which dose is the most appropriate for every patient.
Twice-weekly active and extensive pharmaceutical review of digoxin-treated inpatients was established to identify whether the prescription was adequate and to adjust dosage according to plasma concentrations (PCs) and clinical situation.
1. A multidisciplinary team comprising pharmacists and cardiologists was created to identify possible solutions to improve digoxin prescribing.
2. It was agreed that a twice-weekly extensive review of digoxin-treated inpatients would be conducted by a pharmacist. Candidates for digoxin monitoring were:
a. Patients on chronic digoxin therapy and with at least one of the following risk factors: presence of renal failure (RF), recent surgery, elderly patients (≥65 years), critically ill patients, or patients with suspected toxicity.
3. Once the patients were identified by the pharmacist, they would be discussed with the cardiology team.
4. Digoxin prescriber would be contacted to recommend performing a determination of digoxin PC. PC reference range was set at 0.8–1.2 µg/L for atrial fibrillation (AF) and 0.5–0.8 µg/L for heart failure (HF).
5. PCs would be interpreted using a pharmacokinetic monitoring software (PKS Abbot).
6. Monitoring results and recommended dosage adjustments would be communicated.
From August 2021 to May 2022, 190 patients were identified. Sixty-five (33.7%) were considered for monitoring, of whom 21 (32.3%) were women. The average age was 77.9 (SD 11.7). Sixty-five (100%) with AF and 8 (12.3%) also with HF. The most prevalent risk factors warranting monitoring were patients aged 65 years or older (N=57, 61.9%) and RF (N=31, 33.7%). Thirty-three (51%) of monitored patients required a dosage adjustment, of whom 23 (69.8%) required a dose decrease, 5 (15.1%) an increase and 5 (15.1%) to stop the treatment. Median digoxin concentrations were 1.23 µg/L (interquartile range: 0.75-2.03).
The process described applies to any centre able to monitor digoxin CPs both in inpatient and outpatient settings.
