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
JR ROMA, A RIZO, N POLA, B LOPEZ, A GARCIA, E BRAGULAT, M SANCHEZ, D SOY
Several studies had been published claiming that the figure of a clinical pharmacist could improve the quality and safety of the medicines prescribed in the ED. However, little information has been published regarding its clinical impact when the pharmacist is physically present at the ED, which could enhance communication with clinicians and ED staff.
A clinical pharmacist was included into the multidisciplinary team of the Emergency Department (ED).
The pharmacist performs their duties on-site from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Monday through Friday, joining the medical team located in the short stay unit (SSU) of the ED. The project was focused on validating and reconciling the medications of SSU patients who require short-term treatment, observation or reassessment of their initial ED treatment prior to discharge. Additional activities include logistical tasks, risk management and medication-related safety issues, with the identification of medication errors (MEs) during the pharmaceutical review. These errors are defined as any medication-related error, regardless of whether or not the patient experiences adverse effects.
During the first six months (December 2023–May 2024), 1904 clinical histories (patients) were reviewed (Mean day: 16 patients). MEs were found in 14.8% of the patients (282 patients), with a total of 338 MEs. Of these, 30.5% were reconciliation errors, 28.1% were overdosing errors, 15.1% were therapeutic duplicities and 8.9% were underdosing errors. Other identified MEs included: incorrect posology (3.8%), analytical value adjustments errors (3.0%), drug interactions (2.4%), incorrect duration (2.4%), adverse effects (2.1%), wrong administration route (1.8%), incorrect presentation (1.0%) and allergies (0.9%). The most common pharmacological class involved was antimicrobials (40.6%), followed by anticoagulants (13.2%), immunosuppressants (9.3%), and antihypertensives (7.8%).
Considering the overall satisfaction regarding the ED pharmacist figure in this setting, its work day in ED has been extended from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. More research is needed in order to clarify if the role of the ED pharmacist working on-site at the ED can improve healthcare outcomes.
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
Ugo CARRERE, Charles-Henri BLANCHER, Julien ARCIZET, Serge BENETEAUD, Caroline ALLIX-BEGUEC, Benoit LE FRANC
EDs are the main entry point for hospitalizations. Medication errors are a major threat to patients safety. They are exacerbated by the high flow of patient admitted, the increase in polypharmacy in eldery patients, lack of knowledge of medication and time constraints.
We have implemented proactive medication reconciliations (MR) for eldery patients in our emergency department (ED). Retroactive MR was performed in downstream departments (DD) for similar patients. Goals were to save physicians’ and nurses’ times, to improve patient safety.
A pharmacist provided MR in the ED unit three half-days per week. In agreement with the emergency physicians, we targeted patients aged 75 years and over and/or 65 years and over with multiple medications remained hospitalized. Pharmacists collected patients’ medication history and shared the information to ED prescribers. The drug assessment was recorded in a prescription support software. Prescribers, in the DD, could use it to prescribed without transcription and save time.
Our study was based on the comparison of the two groups : the proactive MR group in the ED and the control group with retroactive MR in downstream departements. Discrepancies were recorded and rated as intentional and unintentional in the two groups.
Between February and April 2021, 139 medication reconciliations were performed (proactive group n=61 ; retroactive group n=78). The age (about 83 years) and mean number of drugs per patient (about seven) of the two groups were not statistiquely different. We observed a statistically significant reduction in the number of unintentional discrepancies with proactive reconciliation in the ED (7% in the proactive group versus 20% in the retroactive group, p-value = 0.0034). Drugs for the nervous system and the cardiovascular system were the most affected by discrepancies. These discrepancies were mainly detected in prescriptions for patients taken care in the orthopedic surgery, the hepato-gastrology and the polyvalent medicine departments.
Clinical, economic and organizational scoring of unintentional discrepancies will be performed by a physician-pharmacist pair (CLEO scale of the French Society of Clinical Pharmacy)
Downstream departments with the most UD will be encouraged to use medication reconciliation.
A satisfaction survey will be conducted among the teams.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Alina Shramko, Veronika Haziahmetova
Based on the results of the analysis, it is possible to answer the question whether it is advisable to spend financial resources, using the example of one healthcare facility; what steps should be taken to rationalize drug procurement; which drugs should be considered first of all for inclusion/exclusion from the procurement list.
Currently, ABC/VEN analysis is one of the most effective pharmacoeconomical methods recommended by WHO for the use in the healthcare system. The use of pharmacoeconomic methods is carried out in accordance with the inherent effective use of drugs, and is carried out strictly in accordance with the principles of evidence-based medicine.
The ABC/VEN analysis was conducted based on data from the pharmacy of the LPI containing the costs of purchasing medicines during 2020. The VEN category was determined after a thorough review of the evidence available to us about the effectiveness, safety and cost of drugs.
The cost of drug provision to healthcare facilities in 2020 amounted to 62 943 951,38 rubles. The number of international generic name purchased and used was 355. About 35% of the funds were used for a group of vital medicines. The cost of the necessary medicines amounted to 43% of the funds – this corresponds to WHO recommendations.
In accordance with the ATX-classification, drugs affecting blood formation and blood are in the lead in terms of the volume of costs – 40.9% of all costs.
The drug is enoxaparin sodium, the leader in terms of costs in 2020. It is a direct anticoagulant (low molecular weight heparins with a molecular weight about 4500 daltons), which has an antithrombotic effect (2.38% of the total budget).
Also, the top ten leaders in terms of costs included saline sodium chloride solution – 6.1% of the annual budget, which probably indicates irrational excessive use of infusion therapy.
The application of pharmacoeconomical methods and principles of evidence-based medicine allowed us to assess the feasibility of drug procurement and serves to rationalize the use of medicines.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Marguerite VAILLANT, Sophie GUILMIN CREPON, Benoit BRETHON , Julie ROUPRET-SERZEC
In order to obtain a safe patient care pathway, we wish to implement proactive and/or retroactive DR for patients followed in the Hemato-Immunology Department of the University Hospital Center Robert Debre.
Formalise and integrate drug reconciliation (DR). Evaluate the feasibility of the project, the impact of DR on the safety of patient care and the satisfaction of patients and health professionals.
Prospective cohort study. The different steps are: identification of eligible patients, collection of information on the patient’s drug history and ongoing treatments from the health partners involved in his or her care, entry drug reconciliation (EDR) during the entry pharmaceutical consultation, conciliation of exit drugs during the return pharmaceutical consultation, transmission of information to the local center and pharmacist or home hospitalisation, evaluation of stakeholder satisfaction and the impact of the intervention.
Thirty patients included between August and October 2019, or 30 conciliations performed. Concerning the EDR: all hospitalisation reports and previous prescriptions are consulted (100%), 6 EDR (20%) take place in pro-active mode, the average duration of an EDR is 43 minutes. Concerning the discharge drug reconciliation (DDR): 30 DDR (100%) take place in pro-active mode, the average duration of a DDR is 52 minutes, all prescriptions and intake plans are sent to community centres and pharmacists or home hospitalisation (100%). Of all the conciliations performed: 4 sources of information used by conciliation, 11 drugs prescribed on average per prescription, 8 intentional and 6 unintentional discrepancies identified by prescription. Concerning the evaluation of satisfaction: all community centres are satisfied (100%), 26 city professionals (87%), 21 hospital professionals (70%), 27 patients (90%).
In order to ensure that DR is permanently included in the service, a communication and information tool must be developed. This, made available to the entire team, will serve as a traceability support, decompartmentalise practices and improve patient care.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Álvaro Caballero Romero, Enrique Galindo Sacristán, Fernando Malpica Chica , Enriqueta González González, Ana María Manzano Bonilla, Marcos Camacho Romera
Medication errors (ME) are often identified in transitions of patients at admission to and discharge from the hospital. Medication reconciliation at discharge is an effective process to decrease the morbidity, mortality and healthcare expenses.
A protocol for a medication reconcialiation project was designed by hospital and primary health care pharmacists.
The protocol has the following steps. To identify all the patients from the hospital at discharge daily. To select the polimedicated (5 or more prescribed medicament) and elderly (over 65 years old) patients. To review the discharge report in the clinical history patient in order to compare whether doctor prescriptions of medicaments (medicine, dose, posology, duration) correspond to the prescriptions included in the report at discharge. To identify discrepancies between both the discharge report and doctor prescriptions of medicaments. The discrepancies were clasified in justified and unjustified. The unjustified discrepancies were categorised as omissions, unnecesary addition, wrong medications, wrong drug frequency/dose, duplicities, pharmacological interacctions and inappropiated medicine regarding to the current clinical practice guidelines. The discrepancies are classified as high and low priority. Finally, both types of discrepancias are reported by sending emails to the specific physicians for each patient along the primary health care system. Some specific cases are discussed on phone calls by doctors and the pharmacists in order to achieve the best clinical goal for the patient.
The project was evaluated from June 2016 to May 2017. Total of discharges: 2788. Included patients: 863. Patients with discrepancies: 309 (35%). Detected discrepancies: 470. Rate discrepancies/patient: 1.52. Omissions: 122 of 470. (25.96%). Unnecesary addition: 60 of 470 (12.76%). Wrong medicine: 3 (0.63%). Wrong frequency/dose: 167 (35.53%). Duplicities: 92 (19.57%). Pharmacological interactions: 13 (2.65%). Inappropiated medicine: 13 (2.77%). Reported emails: 309/309 (100%).
Polimedicated and over 65 years old patients play an extremely important role in the current health care systems. The ME are frequent and may be particullary severe in this type of patients. To develope a protocol for medication reconciliation at discharge in order to identify potencial prescriptions problems is an oppotunity for the multidisciplinar care team to improve the patient care and decrease the expenses associated to primary health care.
Introductory Statements and Governance
Lars-Åke Söderlund, Marie Olsson Nerfeldt , Birgitta Elfsson
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Medication reconciliation at admission was implemented in our hospital in 2011 and since then we could hardly meet the expectations of clinicians (completion of a Best Possible Medication History (BPMH) for 70% of patients in less than 24 hours). We also observed that the high patient volume decreased the quality of our BPMH completion process.
We developed a strategy and an organisational thinking to remove human and technology barriers in performing medication reconciliation (MR). We designed a program to improve the overall quality of MR and increase the added value of MR for clinicians, nurses and pharmacists.
Our approach included four steps:
(1) “customer approach”; by conducting semi-structured interviews with students, clinicians and nurses to get their feedback, needs, expectations about medication reconciliation,
(2) literature review with Pubmed® and Embase®and benchmarking of other similar practices in France and Canada
(3) set a task force including pharmacists and students to define a strategy and metrics
(4) design solutions and assess them.
First, we defined and chose to target “High risk” admission inpatients only. Second, a training program based on two e-learning modules was implemented to develop skills of pharmacy students and residents. This program explores the “why” of conducting MR based on real life examples. It also defines the “what” (what is MR) and the “how” (i.e the different steps to run a MR and how to appropriately interact with the patient).
At each student rotation, the efficacy of the training program will be evaluated by comparing the concordance of BPMHs performed separately by a student and a pharmacist. A survey will be conducted to evaluate the level of learners’ satisfaction.
