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
Henrik Kjer, Christina Laustsen, Rasmus Riis, Caroline Rasmussen, Jeanette Bajrami, Christian Rubek, and Steffen Jørgensen
An atypical medication room (AMR) was established at Herlev Gentofte Hospital, Denmark to centralize the storage and handling of medications not part of the standard assortment (i.e. atypical medication). The project aimed to improve the efficiency of medication management, reduce medication waste, and streamline workflows associated with the use of atypical medicines. To enhance the accuracy and efficiency of inventory control, the ScanPill technology was developed as a tool for digital tracking and updating of medication stock.
Atypical medications are often stored across various departments with low turnover, leading to potential waste and time-consuming retrieval processes. Centralizing these medications in an AMR and using ScanPill aimed to reduce waste due to expiry, improve stock management, and simplify medication retrieval for healthcare professionals.
Atypical medications from multiple departments were collected and stored in the AMR. The ScanPill system was developed to facilitate the scanning of QR codes and barcodes on medication packaging, allowing for precise tracking of stock levels and easy updates to the atypical medication list. Staff were trained to use the AMR and ScanPill to ensure smooth transitions in retrieving, returning, and documenting atypical medicines. Regular inventory checks and updates were conducted to maintain an accurate database of available medications.
The AMR, supported by ScanPill, led to improved handling and management of atypical medications. The centralized storage reduced the need for duplicate stock across departments and enabled quicker access to necessary medications, reducing retrieval time and potential waste. The ScanPill technology improved inventory accuracy and streamlined the process of checking medication in and out, ensuring up-to-date records. Staff feedback has been positive, noting enhanced workflow efficiency and reduced medication waste.
Future steps include evaluating the economic impact of the AMR and its effectiveness in reducing medication waste. Efforts will be made to refine the use of ScanPill, enhance staff training, and explore potential applications of the AMR model across other departments. Continuous monitoring will ensure optimal performance and identify further areas for process improvement.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Arnela Boskovic
Gitte Stampe Hansen
To ensure rational use of medicines during the acute phase of illness, an interdisciplinary group consisting of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and the Hospital Pharmacy was initiated to determine if some medicines could be paused during shorter hospital admissions at The Medical Acute Care Unit, Bispebjerg Hospital.
Patients in acute phase of illness may experience fatigue, nausea, swallowing difficulties, and cognitive challenges when faced with large amounts of oral medicine. Therefore, prioritizing life-critical medicines during hospitalization is essential, while non-critical medicines could temporarily be paused. Additionally, there is often medicine waste, where drugs are assumed to be administered but remain untouched on the bedside table. In acute care units with complex patients, optimizing nursing time, shelf space in the medicine room and managing costs is crucial for appropriate medication.
Information about the new practice was given via newsletters, oral presentations, and signs at the doctor offices and in the medicine room. The group identified statins, multivitamins and calcium supplements as non-critical, and these were hereafter removed from the shelves in the medicine room. The interdisciplinary division of roles were as follows; Physicians: Prescribe critical medicine and temporarily pause non-critical medicine; Nurses: Do not administer statins, multivitamins, or calcium supplements. If the prescription has not been paused, request the physician to do so; Pharmacists: Assist in pausing non-critical medicines; Hospital Pharmacy: Ensure availability of the correct medicine in the medicine room.
Temporarily pausing statins, multivitamins, and calcium supplements during short hospitalization led to minimizing medicine waste and freed up time for the nurses to do other nurse-specific tasks. Medicine administrations by nurses were reduced by 87-96%. It also resulted in optimized space in the medicine room, making space for more critical medicine such as medicines to treat epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
Expanding the list of non-critical medicine during short hospitalizations is in the pipeline. This will be done by interdisciplinary collaboration and will free up time for the nurses and doctors to focus on the acute care of the patient.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
(NFR) Nathalie Fogh Rasmussen
(MS) Maja Schlünsen
(JHPR) Joo Hanne Poulsen Revell
(LJK) Lene Juel Kjeldsen
Exchanging medication stocks between hospital wards is a common method for reducing pharmaceutical waste at hospitals. However, the impact of such systems is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to calculate the annual economic cost savings after the establishment of a medication exchange system at the University Hospital of Southern Denmark in Aabenraa.
A medication exchange system at a Danish hospital was evaluated according to avoidance of medication waste and potential economic impact.
For two weeks in February 2024, pharmaconomists registered all medications that were exchanged between six hospital wards representing 147 of 302 hospital beds. The quantity of the excess medications when returned was registered and the amount of pharmaceutical waste was calculated. This was compared to the amount of waste incurred by ordering a whole package for the ward. Moreover, the economic cost was calculated based on the value per package and compared to the economic costs of purchasing whole packages.
In total, 244 exchanges were registered. The pharmaceutical waste was estimated to 13-26%. The Department of Pulmonary Diseases, followed by the Department of Gastrointestinal Diseases, caused the greatest waste. The exchanged medicine had an economic cost of 3,566 DKK (478 euro). In comparison, the cost of purchasing whole packages was estimated to 21,042 DKK (2,822 euro). Thus, the total cost saving was ((21,042-3,566 DKK)x(52/2 weeks)=454,376 DKK (60,935 euro), corresponding to ((454,376/147) x 302)= 933,480 DKK (125,146 euro) for the entire hospital. The results led to establishment of a physical medication room to store the excess medication available for other clinical wards. All medications are registered electronically to support optimal use of excess medication throughout the hospital.
The economic evaluation may be replicated for comparable medication exchange systems at other hospitals, and thus, generate evidence for the economic and environmental impact of the system.
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
Expenditure on medicines is increasing, mainly due to the availability of expensive, innovative medicines. The admission process for expensive medicines to the Dutch market is complicated and available medicines are not always (fully) reimbursed.
At the Martini Hospital, many different parties were involved in the expensive medicines file. However, mutual coordination was limited and there was a lack of direction, monitoring and feedback of information to the prescribers.
In collaboration with all parties involved, the process for expensive medicines has been redesigned, from application to monitoring and feedback of information to the prescribers. Responsibilities for parts of the process have been explicitly assigned and a hospital pharmacist is in charge of the process.
Various sub-processes have been defined: contracting, prescription and distribution, screening for new substances/indications, financial handling and monitoring. Tasks and responsibilities have been identified for each process and it has been determined how monitoring takes place.
A digital procedure for applying for new expensive medicines or indications, compassionate use programs and authorizations for individual patients has been developed.
Specific reports have been developed for each group of prescribers and are sent periodically. These reports include, for example, compliance with agreements made about preferred substances, conversion to biosimilars, and correct completion of indication codes (which are required for reimbursement).
A clear method for requesting new expensive medicines or indications has been implemented. The average processing time for a new application has decreased significantly (exact figures will be available during the EAHP 2025)
All information regarding reimbursement of expensive medicines is centrally available and transparent to all parties involved.
Physicians’ awareness and knowledge of expensive medicines has increased, and this is reflected in their prescribing behavior.
The amount of unreimbursed medicine costs has been substantially reduced (exact figures will be available during the EAHP 2025)
Continuous evaluation of the process and further development of the reports to the prescribers.
Introductory Statements and Governance
Morati S 1 , Martignoni I 2, Grotto A 2, Filosofo M 3, Gambera M 2
1. University of Padova – School of Pharmacy
2. P. Pederzoli Hospital – Pharmacy Service
3. University of Milan – Specialization School in Hospital Pharmacy
It is generally aknowledged that the albumin, as a medication, is overused. As it is also a limited resource, the role of the pharmacist is crucial to guarantee the appropriateness of the prescription and to prevent the use outside the indications approved by AIFA.
The aim of the project was to promote the correct use of albumin administered to patients admitted to an Italian hospital and to verify the clinical effectiveness of its administration for therapeutic purposes. The aim should have been reached by the intervention of the hospital pharmacist who evaluated every single hospital department request form of albumin and, in case of doubt, called by phone clinicians.
The pharmacist’s intervention took place between 1 July 2022 and 1 July 2023. Once the albumina request form had been validated by the pharmacist, the vials were delivered and registered in the warehouse application and the excel sheet was updated with the patient’s blood values before and after albumin administration . The final step was to analyse the trends of patients’ blood albumin parameters.
373 albumin request forms with 20 different indications were received by the hospital pharmacy. In particular 78 for ‘major surgery’, 65 for ‘large volume paracentesis’, 43 for ‘protein dispersing enteropathies’, 79 for ‘other’.
Extrapolation of consumption showed that, following the pharmacist’s intervention, the use of albumin decreased to 3928 vials delivered compared to the same period in the previous year (1 July 2021 – 1 July 2022) when 14517 vials were delivered. From an economic perspective: the expense of albumina was as follows: €284,553.00 in 2021-22 and €76,998.00 in 2022-23.
The evaluation of the trend of the blood values after albumina administration showed that, if the treatment was appropriate, patients achieved positive results with a return to albumin values of 2.5 g/dl.
Our results show that a dialogue between hospital pharmacists and physicians, and a high focus on the use of albumin, can lead to more appropriate and effective use of albumin and significant cost savings. We would try the same approach to the use of immunoglobulines, blood derivatives with the same concerns (iperutilization, limited resource, high cost) of albumin.
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
Erica Cusumano, Giorgia Nairi, Cristina Baiamonte, Chiara Schimmenti, Lo Verso Clelia, Carolina Scaccianoce, Marcello Vitaliti, Sceila Affronti, Marco Benanti, Paolo Amari, Patrizia Marrone
Until 2020, pavilizumab, refunded by National Health System for Respiratory Sincytial Virus (RSV) infection prophylaxis of paediatric patient at risk, was dispensed in 50 mg (FL 50) and/or 100 mg (FL 100) unit packs, regardless of the prescribed dose, with subsequent preparation on the ward and waste of any residual drug. Therefore, the project’s purpose, from November 2021, was to overcome the past distributive criticalities of pavilizumab.
In our Hospital, Early Start 2.0 project (E.S-2.0) was implemented in collaboration with the neonatal intensive care unit. The E.S-2.0 purpose was to increase quality and safety of Pavilizumab galenic preparation to guarantee the patient’s health and generate an economic saving with an optimisation of hospital resources.
The E.S.-2.0 involved weekly drug days for the delivery to department staff of personalised galenic preparations of pavilizumab, prepared by hospital pharmacy service in a contamination-controlled environment. Through the hospital management system, prescriptions for the period November 2021 to April 2022 were extrapolated to verify the validity of the project. There were 85 patients. A palivizumab consumption database was created to evaluate the mg saved after E.S.-2.0 and the related economic savings.
Project implementation allowed us to obtain an economic saving of 9.33% related to 2339.01 mg that would have been dispensed and wasted without E.S-2.0. The results obtained considering the costs of pavilizumab (FL-50: 10.79 €/mg and FL-100: 8.96 €/mg) and our saving indicators: mg saved= mg that would have been delivered before E.S-2.0 – mg after E.S-2.0; € saved = (mg residues that would have been dispensed and wasted before E.S-2.0 from FL 100 x 8.96 €/mg) + (mg residues that would have been dispensed and wasted before E.S-2.0 from 50 x 10.79 €/mg). In addition, the personalised galenic preparations in controlled contamination pharmacy premises guaranteed a sterile pharmacological manipulation process.
E.S.-2.0 represents a cost saving policy safeguarding patient security. Practice described is worthy of implementation in hospitals not just for prophylaxis of RVS infection but also for the management of all patients undergoing treatment with therapies that can be prepared in galenical laboratory.
Introductory Statements and Governance
Giorgia Babaglioni, Lorenzo Silva, Elena Festa, Daniela Paganotti, Tullio Elia Testa
In Italy, the rising PDMPs demand had to face the international shortage caused by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic outbreak. The self-sufficiency level of albumin represents one of the National Blood Centre (NBC) main challenge, in view of the health system sustainability.
The hospital pharmacy of a northern Italy centre, in accordance with the Good Use of Blood Committee, introduced a nominal form for human albumin (HA) requests to evaluate and rationalise the HA clinical-therapeutic demand. It represents a pharmacist led intervention approach shared by physicians, in favour of an economically sustainable healthcare contrasting the lack of plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMPs).
Prescription criteria were updated according to the most recent guidelines. The cut-off of blood albumin level above 2.5 g/dl has been introduced as eligibility threshold value and for the daily dose calculation, except for HA calculation based on volumes for plasmapheresis and large volume evacuative paracentesis in hepatic cirrhosis. The pharmacy provides a maximum of five days therapy, then a new revaluation and updating of blood albuminemia was required; 690 total requests were analyzed.
In March 2023, HA consumption was 61400 gr, collapsed by 75% in April and then settled at – 58% in May and June. The most important reductions in monthly requirements affected the surgical (- 75%), intensive (- 62%), internist (- 64%) and gastro-hepatological (- 52%) areas. 97,5% of requests were on-label: 20% for plasmapheresis or paracentesis, 21% for liver failure, 16% for cirrhosis of the liver with refractory ascites. 26% of requests (n = 180) reported in-range blood albumin value, while the 14% was unknown or ongoing because administered in emergency phase. 37% of requests has been evaded even if the blood albumin was > 2,5 g/dl due to mandatory clinical need. Thanks to the new prescription model it was possible to save € 91 752 in the second quarter.
The introduction of the reasoned request allowed to achieve albumin self-sufficiency with voluntary blood donations and reduce the market products purchase. Furthermore, it fostered the clinicians awareness on the HA use appropriateness, considering crystalloids and non-protein colloids as alternative therapeutic strategies as resuscitation fluids.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Julie Featherstone, Alice Lo, Golnaz Douraghi-Zadeh
The dashboard was initiated to provide accurate and timely expenditure data to the Medicines Value Team (MVT) which could then be appropriately interrogated and fed back to all relevant Trust and pharmacy staff. The aim was to quickly identify unexpected variance and progress on CIPs that allowed review with clinical and procurement teams.
With the informatics team, a dashboard was developed to monitor medicines expenditure and Cost Improvement Plan (CIP) savings on a monthly basis. The dashboard incorporated varying tracking methods to provide timely data on biosimilar switching, contract price changes and individual medicine optimisation schemes at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust (EKHUFT).
The dashboard required many hours working with the informatics team to ensure good understanding of the information required. Different CIPs had to be tracked and reported in different ways. A mixture of reporting and visual styles were needed to represent the data in a user-friendly way. It was recognised that data validation was required to ensure the accuracy of the dashboard, using a variety of recognised resources, e.g. RX Info.
A full, multi-tabular dashboard is available on the Trust Information Portal. Tracked expenditure data is reported monthly by the MVT at pharmacy and Trust meetings. This has enabled realistic and timely data to be included in overall financial forecasting and feedback to clinical teams on their CIPS. The dashboard has been designed to support the rapid addition of new schemes as they are identified to track potential savings and report at the earliest opportunity. The combined use of the dashboard with close MVT oversight has resulted in closer working with clinical and procurement teams. This has led to better identification, tracking and reporting of all medicines saving opportunities in the Trust, saving over £1 million in 2022/23.
The dashboard will continue to be developed further by the MVT to maximise the capture and reporting of CIPs at EKHUFT. It will also be used to support regular medicines value reviews with senior clinical pharmacists and their teams to help identify future medicines savings opportunities – essential in this challenging financial climate in the National Health Service (NHS).
