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.
At EAHP, we are committed to transparency in our governance, ethical standards, and funding practices. This section provides open access to our foundational documents, including the EAHP Statutes, Code of Conduct, and Funding Sources. By sharing these resources, we aim to uphold accountability and foster trust with our members, partners, and the public.
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.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Lotte Borg
In the home care team (HTC), it is often assistants, who may be unskilled workers, that administer the medication from a multi-dose compliance aid. The quality control they perform before administration involves verifying that the number of tablets and capsules for the designated time slot matches what is recorded in the HTC’s digital system.
The hospital may not have all the strengths in stock, and therefore a dose can be composed of multiple or fewer tablets.
If the number of tablets deviates from the HCT’s digital system, the assistant is not allowed to administer the medicine and must call on a nurse to make sure that the hospital has dispensed the correct medicine.
This is time consuming for the HCT and the patient may receive their medicine at a later time than prescribed with consequent health effects. Furthermore the phone call between the assistant and the nurse can be worrying for the patient to hear.
Communication with the local HCT regarding deviations from the medication list was enhanced through the use of an existing digital discharge report (DDR).
A DDR was already in place, and the enhancement is that nurses and pharmacy technicians now use it to report any changes in the number of tablets and capsules dispensed when discharging a patient to the HTC. A nurse from the HTC then adjusts the quantity of tablets in the HTC’s digital system based on the number of days for which the hospital has dispensed medication to be administered by the HTC.
The implementation was initiated on May 1st, 2024, in two hospital wards.
It is not technically feasible to generate a report of all the DDRs where this improvement has been implemented; however, the HCT has indicated that each time deviations are noted in the DDR, they will save a significant amount of time.
If a DDR is available and the hospital wards and clinical pharmacy department can reach an agreement on its usage and timing, there is no reason not to utilize it, especially if it can enhance patient safety during transitions in care.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Minke Jongsma, hospital pharmacist, Tjongerschans Hospital, Heerenveen, The Netherlands
Marja Bogaards, hospital pharmacist, Haaglanden Medisch Centrum, Den Haag, The Netherlands
Annemiek Zwetsloot, ICT consultant, Panacea Informatics, Oosterbeek, The Netherlands
Folkert Botma, ICT consultant, Panacea Informatics, Oosterbeek, The Netherlands
A significant proportion of valuable medications, often produced far from where they are used, ends up discarded without ever being administered. Due to limited visibility into actual medication use, hospitals face challenges in understanding which drugs contribute to waste.
Analyzing internal data allowed us to gain insight into different aspects of medication waste. Addressing these aspects successfully improved sustainable use of medication.
We developed a medication waste dashboard to promote sustainable decision-making across medication policies, purchasing, prescribing, distribution, administration, and waste management.
Daily, hospital pharmacies register all medication orders and dispensations (to patients or for stock), while nursing staff document actual administrations. The discrepancy between dispensed and administered drugs provides useful insight into unnecessary medication waste.
We integrated dispensing and administration data into a dashboard, offering real-time visibility at the organizational, departmental, ward, and drug group levels. This tool allows our multidisciplinary team to conduct trend analyses and implement greener practices. Key outcomes include: 1) reduction of medication waste, 2) preventing excessive stock accumulation, 3) optimizing internal processes, and 4) maximizing reuse. Additionally, these data supports effective management during drug shortages and provides critical insights into missing opioids.
Utilizing data allows us to retrospectively analyze trends and project future scenarios, unlike traditional waste-bin audits. This data-driven approach empowers us to make proactive adjustments, guiding hospitals toward long-term medication waste reduction and facilitating benchmarking across healthcare institutions.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Anette Thomsen, Sarah Mejlvang, Maria Grønkjær
Automatic multidose Dispensing System (ADS) was implemented in April 2024 in the Hospital Pharmacy Central Denmark Region.
Before the implementation, new software functionalities were developed in the medication module (MEM) of the electronic patient record. The development included creation of new workflows in the wards and in the Pharmacy. A new functionality makes it possible for nurses and pharmaconomists at the hospitals to manually order dose-dispensed medicine (DDM) to patients who are discharged from the wards. The orders are sent from MEM to the ADS on one patient for a given time period. Medication can be ordered hourly until noon.
Medicine for 1-5 days of use can be dose-dispensed (DD) for the patients ready for discharge, which gives the following advantages:
-Improved patient safety. The transition from hospital to home now uses a concept regarding DDM that is known in the primary healthcare sector.
-Increased time for the patient to buy new medication at a local pharmacy after discharge.
-Extra time for newly added/removed drugs to be incorporated in future DDM from local pharmacies.
-Less time spent by nurses dispensing medicine for patients who are being discharged.
To support patients in the transition between hospital and home it has been important to make an easy way to order and dispense medication. Following developing tasks has been made:
-Identification of needed functionalities
– Identification of necessary IT-support
– Requirement for ADS
-Developments in MEM Development and implementation of new workflows in the clinic
All points were created in collaboration between doctors, nurses, IT specialists and pharmacy staff.
The development took around one year
All clinical wards that receive DDM can now manually order DDM for patients who are on their way home. This is a great help in the clinics.
Extending the timespan in which it is possible to order DDM to patients who are being discharged is planned.
Qualitative studies in patient safety for patients receiving dose dispensed medicine in the transition between Hospital and home is considered.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Lucie Malečová, Daniela Seberová, Blanka Zelená, Markéta Hanulíková, Kornélia Chrapková, Stanislav Gregor, Michal Hojný
Adherence to immunosuppressive medication is crucial for long-term graft survival. Patients receive substantial information from various healthcare professionals regarding new medications and lifestyle choices during hospitalisation and post-discharge. Frequent non-adherence indicated that the existing educational approach led by physicians was insufficient. Our objective was to create optimal conditions for providing these instructions to patients before discharge.
In collaboration with the cardiology department, hospital pharmacists created and implemented a new educational project to improve adherence among heart transplant patients. The main activity involves hospital pharmacists conducting educational visits at the patient’s bedside, supported by new educational brochures, materials, and questionnaires.
We created a questionnaire and collected baseline data by assessing the knowledge of transplant patients educated by the existing educational approach. Afterwards, we designed and implemented a six-visit educational program and prepared new educational materials and brochures. A new record system was integrated into the hospital information system to facilitate communication between doctors and pharmacists, documenting educational visits and questionnaire results. The initial three visits, scheduled during hospitalisation, cover the correct use of immunosuppressants and other medications, their interactions, and potential adverse effects. Guidance on recommended lifestyle changes post-transplantation, such as hygiene, diet, and infection prevention, is also included. The remaining three visits occur within one year post-discharge to assess patient knowledge with the previously mentioned questionnaire and adherence to the treatment plan with BAASIS©. During these visits, the pharmacist conducts a comprehensive review of adherence, addresses any drug-related issues, and guides medication changes.
Since the project’s initiation, 120 visits have been completed, involving more than 30 patients. The education significantly improved patient knowledge, with educated patients scoring an average of 94% correct answers on the knowledge questionnaire compared to 59% correct answers of patients educated by the existing educational approach. Only three educated patients were non-adherent, with the most common type of non-adherence being failure to take medication at the prescribed time.
As more patients participate in the project, we aim to correlate their knowledge and adherence with tacrolimus levels and the incidence of rejection. Additionally, we intend to extend this educational initiative to other departments within the hospital.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Gulseren Lafci
Magali Ferro
Valerie Chaminant
In accordance with french legislation concerning the quality of drug management in healthcare establishments, an assessment of professional practices was carried out within our nursing home. The aim was to study the compliance of drug preparation and administration methods with good practice in our nursing home.
A clinical audit has been set up in our nursing home. It was carried out by 2 hospital pharmacists over 3 half-days to consider the preparation of weekly doses, daily doses, and an administration.
One of the 4 sectors of the nursing home was randomly selected. The medication management of all its residents was evaluated. The evaluation criteria were divided into 2 main parts: “drug preparation” and “drug administration”. The part on drug preparation was divided into 4 sub-sections (person in charge of preparation, room and hygiene, preparation, conditioning). The part on drug administration was also divided into 4 subsections (concordance between prescription and administration, identitovigilance, administration, traceability).
A criterion was defined as compliant if all the responses to the items were in line with the procedure, and as non-conforming if only one of the responses was not.
A conformity rate was defined for the entire audit (overall conformity), for each part (partial conformity) and sub-part (average conformity).
The care of the 19 residents in the sector was assessed (23.4% of nursing home residents).
The overall conformity rate of our clinical audit was 38.6%. Partial conformity of the “drug preparation” part was 32.3% (the average conformities of sub sections were: 50% for “person in charge of preparation”, 25% for “premises and hygiene”, 22.5% for “preparation” and 56.25% for “packaging”). Partial conformity of the “drug administration” part was 47.8% (the average conformities of sub-sections were: 100% for “concordance prescription/administration” and “identitovigilance”, 27.3% for “administration” and 42.8% for “traceability”).
The majority of non-conformities were due to a lack of human and material resources. In addition, a lack of knowledge was observed for substitution equivalence and galenic. The results were presented and proposals for improvement, such as raising staff awareness and providing resources, were made to the hospital’s medical committee.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Mélanie Hinterlang, Mona Assefi, Pauline Glasman, Delphine Brugier, Meriem Charfi, Fanny Charbonnier-Beaupel, Marie Antignac, Carole Metz
Clinical trials in critical care sometimes demand swift inclusion and administration, often occurring at any hour of the day or night. To enhance patient care, the experimental drug may be provided in a non-nominative manner directly from the pharmacy unit to the care unit for storage before any inclusion as a stock. This dispensing pathway is considered less secure than the conventional named dispensing but can be necessary. The objective of this risk analysis for this dispensing process was to identify the risks, determine the number of them with unacceptable criticality, and propose actions to reduce criticality of these risks.
A risk analysis of non nominative dispensation of experimental drugs process was conducted to streamline, secure, optimize, and standardize this dispensing process.
Following a preliminary investigation, three pilot services were chosen: surgical intensive care, post-interventional recovery room (SSPI), and cardiology. The Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) method was applied to the non-nominal dispensing circuit of experimental drugs from reception at the pharmacy unit to the administration of the drug to patient. Investigators, clinical research associates, nurse, and pharmacists participated.
Following the FMECA, 281 risks were identified. The majority were either acceptable (123 or 44%, 110 or 39%, 147 or 52%) or tolerable (139 or 49%, 148 or 53%, and 130 or 46%) for the intensive care, SSPI, and cardiology services, respectively. Unacceptable risks numbered 19 (7%), 23 (8%), and 4 (1%) for intensive care, SSPI, and cardiology services, respectively. The process identified as most critical for all three services was communication. After risk prioritization, a plan comprising 17 actions was implemented.
This risk analysis demonstrated that control over the non-nominal dispensing circuit is achievable. Once the actions are in place, a reduction in criticality is anticipated due to a decrease in the frequency. Theoretically unacceptable risks are now at 0%. In the long term, this project has the potential to participate to improve the care of patients enrolled in emergency clinical trials and boost research in the concerned units.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
All errors, whether involving medication or not, are required to be reported and classified in the hospital reporting system. However, the system is poorly adapted for medication management and lacks the relevant terms. This results in the same type of error being classified in various ways, making systematic quality improvement difficult. A pilot study confirmed the system’s shortcomings, after which a new medication management process was developed and evaluated.
The existing process for classifying medication errors was supplemented with a new process in which hospital pharmacists reclassified medication errors detected in the reporting system. The reclassification was based on a predefined medication management process.
A medication management process was developed in collaboration with specialist nurses and in accordance with applicable regulations and policies. The process consisted of the following activities: 1) Prescription, 2) Ordering/Delivery, 3) Storage/Narcotics Control, 4) Preparation, 5) Handover/Administration, 6) Medicines information in transitions of care, 7) Follow-up of treatment, and 8) Miscellaneous. The process was validated by having four hospital pharmacists independently classify 176 medication errors. Consistency in the assessment was evaluated, and the process was corrected as needed. All medication errors classified as medication-related in 2022 or containing the word “medication” in free text were thereafter exported from the reporting tool to Microsoft Excel and then into a data processing and performance monitoring tool for further analysis.
A total of 756 medication errors were identified in the reporting tool, distributed across 65 different activities. Hospital pharmacists identified an additional 305 errors through free-text searches that had not been reported as medication-related. A total of 1,061 medication errors (756+305) were reclassified and grouped into eight activities. The highest risk of errors was associated with the preparation (19%), followed by storage/narcotics control (18%), and prescription (17%). The new process, involving hospital pharmacists in classification, creates conditions for a more systematic approach to medication errors. The pilot project was presented at the hospital’s themed day for World Patient Safety Day 2022.
Discussions have been initiated with system developers to improve the reporting tool. Discussions with hospital management will be initiated with the goal of creating a structure in which hospital pharmacists have an active role in the hospital’s work on patient safety related to medication.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Carmen Redondo Galán, Cristina Ortega Navarro, Ana de Lorenzo Pinto, Beatriz Torroba Sanz, Cecilia Martínez Fernández-Llamazares, Silvia Manrique Rodríguez, Álvaro Narrillos Moraza, Carmen Rodríguez González, Ana Herranz Alonso , María Sanjurjo Sáez
Transitions of care put the patients at risk for medication error as a result of poor communication and information loss. Treatment beginnings, complex treatment and medication reconciliation errors are an important cause of morbidity and have a predominant role in chronic complex patients (CCP). In this sense, collaboration and effective communication between hospital and community pharmacy are considered essential elements to guarantee continuity of patient care, obtaining better health results in terms of safety, effectiveness and efficiency.
Create and implement a collaborative network with direct communication between the Hospital Pharmacy Service of a tertiary hospital and the community pharmacies responsible for patient follow -up.
A multidisciplinary group of hospital pharmacists dedicated to different clinical areas was created: three pharmacists from the Emergency Department, two from the Paediatrics Department, one from the Neurology Department and one from the Outpatients area. They selected and contacted by telephone the 40 community pharmacies responsible for 25% of patient prescriptions in the area. Periodic meetings were scheduled and possible strategic lines of collaboration were shared. The following priority groups were identified: Group 1: CCP (paediatric patients and fragile elderly patients) and Group 2: patients treated in the hospital emergency department. We addressed logistical aspects (supplies and preparation of formulations), pharmacotherapeutic monitoring (adherence, adverse drug reactions and collaboration in the management of CCP). The main limitations were small population and short follow-up time.
From March 2023 to September 2023, the hospital Pharmacy Service has received 50 consultations on 45 patients from community pharmacies: 85% were classified as group 1 and 15% group 2. Pharmaceutical interventions were related to medical shortages (28%), reconciliation errors at discharge (22%), information about formulations (20%), information about new treatments (15%), prescribing errors (12%) and adverse drug reactions (3%). Community pharmacists appreciated accessibility and value of information provided by hospital pharmacists. 50% of patients avoided a hospital visit to solve their queries.
Our first results show the importance of pharmacist interventions with patients and other healthcare professionals.This collaborative network can be applicable to all services that work with community pharmacies to guarantee greater coordination and integration in the different healthcare settings.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
OAM are widely used in the treatment of solid tumors and are administered orally in cycles that require self-administration at home. However, dose adjustments and discontinuations often lead to leftover medication which is discarded as waste. Therefore, the increasing use of expensive OAM comes with the downside of a financial and environmental burden. To reduce this waste, returned OAM to the pharmacy could be considered for redispensing to other patients providing guaranteed quality.
We defined quality criteria for redispensing of oral anticancer medicines (OAM) in our hospital pharmacy. These criteria were laid down in a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to assess the eligibility for redispensing of returned OAM. This SOP was implemented in daily pharmacy practice.
A systematic risk analysis was conducted to determine eligibility of OAM for redispensing taking relevant guidelines and product information into account. The defined quality criteria were translated into a SOP and implemented in daily pharmacy practice. Over a year period, the number of returned OAM accepted for redispensing was quantified, and the reduction in financial waste and environmental burden calculated.
From the systematic risk analysis, four categories of quality aspects were identified: product presentation suitability (stability characteristics, storage requirements), physical condition (unopened or opened secondary or primary packaging, visual appearance), authentication (Falsified Medicines Directive, confirmation of initial dispense, recall), and additional aspects (remaining shelf life, period of storage under uncontrolled conditions). The first category identified that in principle, 75% of the licenced OAM (n=..products) dispensed at our institute is eligible for redispensing. From all combined quality aspects, a flow chart was created according to which each individual returned OAM is assessed . During the study period, 10,415 OAM dose units out of 13,210 returns (79%) were accepted for redispensing. The total value of OAM accepted for redispensing was €483,301, accounting for 0.9% of the total value dispensed during this period. Furthermore, the potential reduction in environmental burden was estimated at 1132.1 g of potent active pharmaceutical ingredient.
We established an easily implementable, comprehensive quality assessment of returned OAM for redispensing. Wide implementation of this approach would result in serious OAM cost and waste reduction.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
This service emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the collection of hospital medication posed patients, many of whom were immunocompromised, at higher risk for COVID-19 and other infections, as they had to enter the hospital facilities. Over time, it was observed that this service was not only beneficial during periods of high SARS-CoV-2 transmission. RutiCar enabled medication pickup from the patient’s own private vehicle, avoiding necessity for parking as well as entering the hospital.
In June 2021, the Pharmacy Department of Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital(HUGTP) established an outpatient medication dispensing point located outside the hospital premises, “RutiCar”. This initiative facilitated patients in collecting their chronic treatments without entering the hospital, enabling direct access from their vehicles.
A new preparation and dispensing circuit was established. The patients specify their preferred date for medication pickup by telephone, e-mail or by a form after scanning a QR code. Pharmacy technicians undertake the responsibility of scheduling the appointment and preparing the medications one day prior to the designated dispensing day. The prepared medications are transported early in the morning to a temporary medication storage facility situated within the hospital’s parking area. Finally, the patient arrives at RutiCar at their scheduled appointment time and, without the need to exit their vehicle, collects their medication.
This service is aimed at patients with chronic treatments who have been on their medication for an extended period (>6 months) and show adherence. Pharmacists play an important role in this context, by ensuring that patients meet the criteria to initiate RutiCar service, reviewing treatments to validate their continuation and overseeing medication pickups to enhance patient adherence.
This service has led to an improvement in the medication dispensing process, assisting 10.46%(282) of the monthly average of patients who collect hospital medication(2695) and extending the hours for medication pickup, facilitating the work-life balance for patients and enhancing access to patients from remote areas.
In the future, improvements can be considered, such as implementing reminders for patients who have not yet scheduled their appointments and are projected to run out of medication soon, or automated appointment systems.
