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.
Production and Compounding
K. Koch, The Pharmacy of the capital region of Denmark, Quality, Herlev, Denmark
R. Højmark, The Pharmacy of the capital region of Denmark, non-sterile production, Herlev, Denmark
L.R. Duckert, The Pharmacy of the capital region of Denmark, non-sterile production, Herlev, Denmark
T. Schnor, The Pharmacy of the capital region of Denmark, production, Herlev, Denmark
There is an interest in implementing more safe, affordable, and sustainable treatment methods for patients for whom a personalized approach is beneficial. These treatments can be expensive and associated with patient safety and compliance issues. For the pediatric population, many medications are not available in appropriate form or dose and therefore is being manipulated before administration. Extemporaneous oral solutions often have a limited shelf life and bad physical properties or undesirable excipients.
Patients with impaired renal function or need for accurate dose adjustments are also expected to benefit from 3D-printed orally disintegrating tablets (OTDs).
The initial steps necessary before implementing 3D-printing for manufacturing personalized ODTs has been identified and completed. The clinical advantages and barriers of the personalized treatment has been discussed interdisciplinary and the new dosage form has been risk evaluated in dialogue with the competent authority. As a result, the best suited technology has been identified.
The European marked has been searched for technologies suitable for extemporaneous personalized production in hospital pharmacies. 3D-printed OTDs was identified as most easily implemented both concerning technology, GMP and patient acceptance.
A dialogue about risks and benefits regarding 3D-ptinted ODTs was initiated with the hospital staff. Risks identified concerned the number of drugs available for 3D-printing, the need for stability testing and resistance from authorities. Benefits like flexibility, just-in-time preparation and patient safety was identified.
A meeting was held with the competent authority, to establish the level of validation, documentation and analysis needed on the final product and starting materials.
The necessary steps to get started have been identified and completed. Risks and benefits were assessed, and the decision about implementing 3D-printed ODTs was made. An equipment that is reliable and automated has been sourced.
An API for the initial manufacture was selected, combining clinical relevance and adequate physical properties.
Ink/matrix for the 3D-printer was evaluated and found safe for medicines for children. The matrix is manufactured according to GMP.
A regulatory framework has been agreed upon with the competent authority.
Validation of the equipment and printing of the first ODTs to be used in the clinic.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ ESQUÍROZ, AMAYA ECHEVERRÍA GORRITI, Mª CONCEPCIÓN CELAYA LECEA, MARTA MARÍN MARÍN, LOREA SANZ ÁLVAREZ, PATRICIA GARCÍA GONZÁLEZ, JAVIER GORRICHO MENDIVIL, JAVIER GARJÓN PARRA.
A prescription alert system was developed in our region for the management of drugs in patients with hepatic cirrhosis.
A preliminary study made in our region showed that around one in four prescribed medications in cirrhotic patients are contraindicated or overdosed. Besides, it is estimated that around 38% of cirrhotic patients suffer any adverse effect despite approximately 70% of them are preventable.
In addition, safety problems can emerge due to the lack of data regarding drugs management in patients with cirrhosis.
For these reasons, it was essential to develop a tool that helped clinicians during the prescription process and pharmacists while pharmaceutical validation and medication review.
A computer-generated prescription alert system was developed. This system provides security data and dosing recommendations according to Child-Pugh classification of each patient. Besides, the tool suggests safer alternatives when an unsafe drug is prescribed. These recommendations were extracted from the product information and three databases: UpToDate, RxCirrhosis and Geneesmiddelen bij.
According to last laboratory data available from the electronic medical records such as bilirubin, prothrombin time and albumin, this tool estimates the Child-Pugh score, that must be completed with ascites and encephalopathy grade.
At this time, this tool is only available for clinical pharmacists for validation, and it is expected to be implemented for physicians soon.
From May to September 2024, a total of 202 drugs were included, 59 (29.2%) were considered contraindicated in some degree of cirrhosis, so it was recommended not to use. Dose adjustment was proposed in 109 (54.0%) drugs, while in 13.9% the tool recommended a safer alternative drug.
In order to complement this issue, information and training sessions were given about safe management of drugs in cirrhotic patients.
We are working in order to include safety data about more drugs in this alert system.
We hope this tool can help professionals of other regions and countries.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Christina Anastasiadou – Lead Pharmacist Acute & Emergency Medicine
Karen Dicks – Chief Pharmacy Technician Medicines Management
Radhika Patel – Pharmacy Technician MMS
Until October 2023, the A&E department in Croydon University Hospital in London lacked a full-time pharmacy service, unlike other London trusts. This has contributed to suboptimal medicine management and a delay in the identification of prescribing errors. This has resulted in longer stays, missed medication doses, and a rise in patient safety incidences. At a hospital level this reduces flow and increases cost due to medication wastage. Ultimately, the aim is to improve the flow of patients within the hospital via timely medicines provision, early clinical pharmacy intervention and early discharge planning.
We have obtained funding from the Better Care Fund for a period of 2 years. This funding is aimed at assisting local systems in effectively achieving the integration of health and social care in a manner that promotes person-centred care, sustainability, and improved outcomes for individuals and caregivers. Therefore, we introduced a full-time pharmacy service including one pharmacist and two medicines management technicians (MMTs)—one full-time and one part-time. This initiative was implemented as a 2-year trial period, using key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate its effectiveness.
Data has been collected against the below KPIS:
1) Number of drug histories completed on admission, before patient is allocated a ward (by MMT or pharmacist) per calendar month.
2) Number of medicines reconciliations completed (by pharmacist) per calendar month.
3) Number of clinical interventions completed by all members of the pharmacy team.
4) Savings secondary to the use of patient’s own drugs (PODs) brought from home for administration to reduce medicines wastage.
5) Savings due to the return of medicines to inpatient pharmacy for re-use from other patients when appropriate.
6) Time between request of medicines from pharmacy dispensary and medicine being dispensed, checked and released to A&E.
7) Review of stock lists in all areas in A&E.
8) Reduction in omitted doses.
9) Discharge medicines supply and screening from A&E to streamline discharge.
10) Number of patients counselled on their medicines and provided with patient-friendly information on them.
11) Number of referrals to community teams i.e allocated chemist via Discharge Medicines Service, Integrated Care Network (ICN) pharmacists or specialty teams (i.e anticoagulation clinic for newly initiated anticoagulant) to provide continuation of care.
12) Liaising with specialty teams within the hospital to expedite review and treatment in a time efficient and cost-effective way.
The current pharmacy team is fully integrated into the A&E service and has contributed significantly towards advancing patient experience, via early pharmacy engagement with patients. During the first 10 months of the project, we have data to show:
1) A 540% increase in drug histories and medicines reconciliation on admission.
2) A 19.525% increase in clinical interventions and early detection of medication errors.
3) We have completed 5 teaching sessions so far, in order to tackle common prescribing and medicines management inaccuracies and embedding solutions into nurses and doctors training.
4) We have contributed towards the reduction in omitted doses by 6%.
Positive contribution towards tackling medicines wastage has been shown too. Our team contributed towards saving £13.110 from April to September 2024 by using PODs for administration in hospital and £10.483 by returning dispensed medications to the inpatient pharmacy for recycling and use for other patients for the same time period.
In addition, the team has completed 66 referrals to the community pharmacy team for follow up on newly started medicines, stopped medicines, adherence concerns and polypharmacy. This is in order to provide continuous care and establish follow-up after discharge from hospital.
All in all, improved safe patients flow in and out of hospital.
Work towards a business case for a permanent pharmacy service in A&E, to continue further developing the above. Utilise all the skills our MMTs hold, in order to continue working on patient safety, improved flow and cost improvement plans. Introduce a pharmacist-prescriber who will be able to tackle arising problems as soon as possible and provide high quality care in liaison with doctors, nurses and advanced care practitioners.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Yosr Trabelsi, Leila Achour, Ikram Fezaa, Samer Sahbi, Chema Drira
Never events are serious incidents generally linked to human and/or practical errors, which should never happen. Most of these events are avoidable, and are the subject of specific recommendations for the implementation of appropriate protective measures. According to ANSM (French drug safety agency), potassium chloride (KCl) is among the drugs frequently implicated in Never Events.
The aim of this study was to assess the prescription and administration practices of injectable KCL in our hospital.
We carried out a 1-month prospective audit between 1 and 30 September 2024. All the prescriptions of injectable KCL were collected and evaluated by a pharmacist using a data collection form. It was divided into 2 sections: preparation and administration. The reference guideline used for this study was the 2022 ANSM recommendations. The results were analyzed using excel.
Fifty-five prescriptions were included. The compliance percentage for prescriptions and administration practices was 31.4% and 30.5 %, respectively. Calculation of total intake was compliant and the total volume of diluent was mentioned in all the prescriptions. In 62% of the prescription, the correct specific units were used and in 38.2 % of cases the correct slow infusion rate was prescribed. Nevertheless, the use of the route was inappropriate since only the IV route was prescribed due to the shortage of oral KCl. For administration, final concentration (≤4g/L) of the KCL infusion was respected in 90.9% of cases and all the preparations were labeled.
The study revealed several non-conformities, leading to the development of an improvement report. Therefore, we decided to implement a training plan about injectable KCl use to ensure patient safety.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
E. Volpi (1), F. Panizzi (2), B. Mastrelli (2), G. Lo Surdo (1), S. Tonazzini (1), S. Alduini (1), M. Mangione (3), S. Baratta (4), M. Baroni (5), S. Biagini (1)
1. Hospital Pharmacy, Ospedale del Cuore, Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio
2. Postgraduate School of Hospital Pharmacy, University of Pisa
3. Information systems and information technologies, Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio
4. Nursing, Technical and Rehabilitation Service, Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio;
5. Clinical Risk Manager, Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio
Medication safety practices are a cornerstone for reducing medication errors and patient harm.
Hospital pharmacist has been recognized as one of main healthcare providers that can support the physicians and the nurses in this item.
The computerized labeling of multidose medicines when they were opened is a good practice for safe medication use which is performed from the Fondazione Toscana G. Monsaterio (Italy) since 2022.
The routine control activity of the department’s drug stocks includes the verification of drugs expiration date and the timely removal of drugs before they have expired their validity.
In the case of opened multidose medicines, this operation is more complex as their validity is often reduced.
Our aim was to provide to all healthcare professionals a quick and safe computerized labeling tool, which is constantly updated by the pharmacist based on availability of drugs in the hospital wards.
A multidisciplinary team (pharmacist, nurse and computer scientist) developed a multidose drug labeling system linked to the patient’s medical record which allows the generation of a label every time a prescription for a multidose drug is presented, before patient administration. The team discussed the content of the label and selected the categories of drugs that needs to be included.
The categories of drugs included in our program are syrups, oral suspensions, ophthalmological and otological preparations and oral drops. We used a computerized program to fill the information about the validity after opening such as days and storage temperature and indicating the source of the information.
The new system allows to easily check the validity after opening for all multidose drugs, before administration to the patient. This implementation not only guarantees patient safety, but also offers support to all nurses or physicians for any subsequent administration of the same drug and simplifies deadline checking operations of the department’s drug stocks.
We will continue to keep the labeling program updated by including new drugs available in our hospital. We would like that the information on post-opening shelf life was always included in drug SmPCs and that the good practice of computerized labeling was diffused also in other hospital settings.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
AMINE BAYEN, OUMAIMA KHARKHACH, HICHAM EL HORR, LHOUSSAIN ZARAYBY, SANAE DERFOUFI
It has been observed that within the gastroenterology, neurology, internal medicine, rheumatology, and dermatology departments, there exist inconsistencies and disparities. These include extended transportation times averaging 8 minutes, a lack of isothermal bags for transportation, and refrigerators not connected to the main hospital generator.
Strict adherence to storage guidelines is crucial, as any breach in the cold chain could compromise the drug’s therapeutic effectiveness, increase the risk of adverse effects, and lead to significant financial losses for healthcare institutions.
Ensuring optimal storage and transportation conditions for biotherapy drugs in various medical departments within a university hospital by assessing and improving cold chain compliance.
Implemented corrective actions and recommendations have been primarily directed towards minimizing transportation duration and procuring thermal bags for all departments handling biotherapy products. These initiatives encompass enhancing staff awareness in the cold chain process through sensitization campaigns and regularly evaluating refrigerator temperatures. Moreover, a strategic plan is underway to establish their connectivity to the generator system in the near term.
A notable reduction in the transportation time of biotherapeutic drugs has been achieved, decreasing the average duration from 8 minutes to 6 minutes. Additionally, the widespread adoption of thermal bags across audited departments has substantially bolstered the stability of biotherapeutic drugs, mitigating temperature fluctuations and enhancing patient safety. Moreover, our efforts in sensitising medical and pharmaceutical staff within these departments have yielded a significant increase in awareness and adherence to stringent cold chain protocols.
The inconsistencies and disparities identified during the assessment of the biotherapy drug cold chain within our hospital suggest a potential lack of adherence to procedural standards. This situation poses a considerable risk to patient safety, warranting further investigation and action.
Our focus will extend beyond the cold chain assessment to evaluate other pharmaceutical procedures. Specifically, we will investigate the adherence to autoclave sterility cycles for medical devices and the robustness of the preparation process for oncology medicines.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Adrian Viudez-Martinez, Ana Ramirez-Lopez, Javier Lopez-Nieto, Geronima Riera, Eduardo Climent-Grana
Medication errors harm at least 1.5 million people every year. According to the Institute for Safe Medication Practice (ISMP), ongoing errors with oral methotrexate (MTX) for non-oncologic use suggest that more needs to be done to reduce the risk of patient harm, especially considering its potentially severe side effects.
Identification and prevention of MTX-related medication errors for non-oncologic use by medication reconciliation at hospital admission. Analysis of errors’ type prevalence were also performed.
Design: prospective cohort performed in a tertiary hospital from September 2021 to April 2023.
Inclusion criteria: Inpatients with weekly methotrexate for non-oncologic use.
Intervention applied: medication reconciliation comparing inpatient’s e-prescription, clinical record, outpatient medication history and pharmacist-driven interview.
Data analysed: demographic data (age, sex, admission cause) treatment-related data (indication, methotrexate and folic acid posology, administration route, day of the week).
Out of 79 admission episodes (53.1 % men, median age: 72 years (range: 18-96 years), 63 (80% )were urgent.
Most patients had been prescribed methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis (n=56), but also for polyarthritis (n=9), psoriatic arthritis (n=8), pulmonary sarcoidosis (n=2), pemphigus (n=1), spondylarthritis (n=1) and Still syndrome (n=1).
Methotrexate doses’ frequency were: 15 mg (28.9%), 10 mg (27.6%), 20 mg (11.9%), 7.5 mg (9.2%), 25 mg (7.9%), 12.5 mg (6.6%), 17.5 mg (5.3%) and 5 mg (2.6%).
Medication errors were identified and prevented in 38 out of the 77 episodes recorded (49.4%). There were classified as follows: dose (38.5%), day (17.9%), dose and day (17.9%), dose and administration route (10.3%), omission (10.3%), administration route (2.6%) and lack of indication (2.6%).
Folic acid doses’ frequency was: 10 mg the day after MTX (47%), 5 mg the day after MTX (28%), 5 mg daily except the same day as MTX (17%), 15 mg the day after MTX (8%).
Medication errors were identified and prevented in 51 out of the 77 episodes recorded (66.2%). There were classified as follows: omission (38.8%), day (33.3%), day and dose (16.7%), dose (9.3%) and drug (1.9%).
Performing medication reconciliation in every admission, measuring its potential benefits using validated tools for clinical pharmacists’ intervention assessment, such as the CLEO tool, which can, ultimately, serve as preamble to objectively measure the pharmacists’ impact in healthcare efficiency and patients’ safety.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Esther Chamorro de Vega, Carmen Rodriguez Gonzalez, Belen Mayo Canaleja, María Pilar Montero Anton, Sergio Herrera Bermejo, Rosa Romero Jimenez, Vicente Escudero Vilaplana, Roberto Collado Borrell, Ana Herranz Alonso, María Sanjurjo Sáez
The profile of patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) has changed. Patients are more active, autonomous and have greater information and communication needs.
Mobile health, especially apps, can help to healthcare professionals to optimize pharmacotherapeutic follow-up and provide patients greater autonomy facilitating communication with healthcare professionals and contributing to the humanization of their care.
Through this application we seek to achieve the following objectives:
– Allow patients to participate in their illness and/or treatment, promoting their compliance and safety and communication with the healthcare professional.
– Strengthen pharmacotherapeutic monitoring of patients receiving ART, avoiding visits to the emergency room and hospital consultations.
– Generate pioneering evidence on the impact of mobile applications on the pharmacotherapeutic monitoring of patients on ART.
FarMCuida® is a mobile application designed for a closer and better pharmacotherapeutic monitorization of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Through this app the patient can actively participate in his or her disease and treatment.
A multidisciplinary group was created to design and develop an app called FarMCuida® for patients on ART in a tertiary hospital. Once the app was designed and developed, we offered the app to patients starting or undergoing ART. Identification and inclusion of candidate patients was performed in the Pharmaceutical Care Consultation of the Pharmacy Service. The pharmacists responsible for the Infectious Diseases area performed real-time pharmacotherapeutic follow-up of the patients.
Records of adverse effect (AE) and Safety-related messages received (Adverse effects, interactions, drug administration) can be analyzed. All data can be exported from FarmCuida®. Informed consent is requested from all the patients included.
FarMCuida® was designed as a digital health mobile application that allows our patients to participate in their disease and/or treatment, promoting treatment safety, as well as making available a source of information and bidirectional communication, in real-time, between patients and healthcare professionals.
During a period of 13 months, a total of 152 patients were included in FarMCuida®. Seventy-two percent of the patients were diagnosed with HIV infection while 27.6% of them were included in the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis programme.
In AE module, 58 adverse events (AEs) were registered. Twenty-two percent of the patients registered at least one AE.
Thirty-two percent of patients used the Messages module to communicate with healthcare professionals.
One hundred and twenty-six telematic consultations were carried out. Two hundred and five messages were exchanged between the patient and the pharmacist.
Forty-three percent of the consultations corresponded to doubts about interactions: 66.7% interactions with other drugs, 28.5% with herbal products and 4.8% with vitamin supplements. Three type D interactions and one type X interaction were identified.
In addition, 11% of the consultations corresponded to doubts about the administration of ART while 5.2% were related to adverse effects experienced by the patient.
At least three visits to the emergency department were avoided, resulting in health care and economic savings for the health system.
Based on the limited studies on the impact of mobile applications on the pharmacotherapeutic follow-up of patients, the results obtained will allow us to generate evidence in this regard. It is worth highlighting the flexibility of FarMCuida® design, being easily adaptable to different pathologies and hospital centres.
Education and Research
RAQUEL AGUILAR SALMERÓN, LÍDIA MARTÍNEZ SÁNCHEZ, ANNA MARIA JAMBRINA ALBIACH, NEUS RAMS PLA, MANEL RABANAL TORNERO, MARIA ÀNGELS GISPERT AMETLLER, MILAGROS GARCÍA PELÁEZ, NÚRIA PI SALA, SANTIAGO NOGUÉ XARAU
HTDs in infants are defined as those that might cause severe or lethal poisoning in children. Some HTDs are considered “one pill killers”: those in which the ingestion of one unit, a single tablet or tablespoon, in an infant with a body weight of 10 kg, could be fatal. In Spain, there are 29 active ingredients (from seven therapeutic groups) considered “one pill killers”. Counseling and information are crucial activities developed by pharmacists that could help to avoid fatal intoxications.
A virtual and interactive course for pharmacists was designed to improve knowledge about highly toxic drugs (HTDs) in infants and potentially fatal intoxications. The education platform integrates microlearning and gamification methodologies, and the course could be followed via web or smartphone.
A group of experts, including toxicologist paediatricians and clinical pharmacists, carried out a literature review and determined the toxic dose for HTDs. They also determined the number of units (considering the most concentrated presentation) needed to achieve the potentially fatal dose in a 10 kg infant. A virtual microlearning platform (Snackson®) was chosen, and specific training content was designed. It will be offered to community pharmacists by our Catalan Ministry of Health.
This project has enhanced the collaboration between the group of experts and the Catalan Ministry of Health. An agreement has been signed, and, in this frame, the educational activity has been offered (Autumn 2023) to 250 community pharmacists.
A list of HTDs has been published (DOI: 10.1016/j.anpede.2020.02.007).
A video was recorded, addressed to the general population to inform them about the existence of HTDs. This video is a divulgation tool with recommendations to prevent drug poisoning and is periodically broadcast in the waiting rooms of health centers.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSHDRte7Nr8&t=14s).
The next objective will be to evaluate the impact of the training activity on community pharmacists and the usability of the virtual microlearning platform. Future plans also include the expansion of this education tool to other regions in Spain, and to explore the application of microlearning methodology to other areas of knowledge.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Leonor Romero, Paloma Lozano, Veronica Canales, Vanesa Dechado, Marta Puebla, Ricardo Villarubia, Isamar Gomez, Estefanía Ramírez, Juan Rodríguez, Belén Soto
According to Directive 2011/62/EU, one of the measures is the inclusion in the secondary packaging of the drug of a Unique Identifier that allows the recognition of a unitary case at any point in the supply chain until it is dispensed to the patient. Another is the development of a European repository that allows the traceability of medicinal products for human use within the European market. In Spain, in accordance with Article 84.1 of Royal Decree 717/2019 of 5 December 2009, the SNSFarma Node was established as an instrument for technological integration and information exchange with the national repository known as the SEVeM.
The logistics company of our hospital aggregates several codes corresponding to the Datamatrix of the individual containers in an electronic file, in order to send the reading automatically to Spanish Medicines Verification System (SEVeM).
The shipment of the drugs and the electronic file will be linked by the Seria Shipping Container Code (SSCC), which will univocally guarantee traceability between the two. The Pharmacy Service staff receive the delivery notes by reading the barcode without the need to scan the Datamatrix of each container.
Since the implementation of this project between July 2023 to September 2023, a total of 61 delivery notes have been registered under the code aggregation system with 27 suppliers involved. The number of packages read was 2151.
This project ensures the automatic sending of readings to SEVeM and to facilitate the reception of delivery notes at the Pharmacy Services by barcode reading.
This has allowed pharmacy staff to save time in receiving delivery notes, to improve traceability of batches and expiry dates of medicines, to improve stock control thanks to the confirmation of quantities received and to verify the medicines in accordance with European regulations to fight medicine falsifications and ensure that medicines are safe and that the trade in medicines is rigorously controlled.
A limitation is the existence of suppliers that are not involved in this project since their delivery is not done through the logistics company. In these cases, the datamatrix reading must be performed on each container individually.
