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.
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.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
JOSE MANUEL DEL RIO GUTIERREZ, EUGENIA SERRAMONTMANY MORANTE, SARA GIMENEZ GINER, PILAR ROVIRA TORRES, PATRICIA GARCIA ORTEGA, CARLOTA VARON GALCERA, ISABEL CIDONCHA MUÑOZ, MARIA QUERALT GORGAS TORNER
One of the most important challenges we currently face is the increase of clinical trials (CTs) including CBMPs. These drugs require special storage, preparation, delivery and administration; so developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) and ensuring proper coordination between all professionals involved, including pharmacists, is essential.
Management of cell-based medicinal products (CBMPs) was protocolised in an onco-haematology clinical trials unit.
Pharmacists, doctors and nurses participate in a multidisciplinary team to standardise CBMPs handling. The following protocol was agreed:
1.The entire multidisciplinary team is notified when a CBMP prescription is planned to ensure proper coordination.
2.The CBMP is manufactured by the CT sponsor. Then, it is transferred to the blood bank for cryopreservation. CBMPs usually require a temperature between -80ºC and -200ºC and expire in some weeks.
3.Before CBMP administration, patients undergo lymphodepletion. The lymphodepletion regimen is performed according to the CT protocol or arranged between medical and pharmacy teams. Chemotherapy, serum therapy and antiemetic regimen are discussed and specified.
4.Once the treatment is prescribed, it is verified by a pharmacist who ensures its suitability.
5.On the infusion day, the blood bank delivers the CBMP. Then, a pharmacist checks if it arrives in proper condition and it is defrosted. The pharmacy department reconditions the CBMP in another infusion bag or syringe if required. This is the most critical point because CBMP expires after some minutes of defrosting, requiring extensive coordination.
6.CBMP is administered according to the CT protocol.
72 patients were recruited in 15 CT. 8 of them use as CBMP Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cells (CAR-T-CELLS), 4 Specific Peptide-Enhanced Affinity Receptor T-Cells (SPEAR-T-CELLS), 2 Tumour-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs) and one cytokine-stimulated Natural-Killer-Cells (CS-NK-CELLS). Seven assays are intended for haematological neoplasms and eight for solid malignant neoplasms. One assay requires CBMP syringe reconditioning in the pharmacy department.
The described process optimises CBMPs handling, avoids delays in administration and reduces the risk of misuse.
CBMPs represent a novel therapy, and pharmacists have an essential role in developing new procedures to incorporate them into clinical practice. This protocol may be helpful for other centres to implement guidelines to work with CBMPs.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
MOHAMMED ADNANE EL WARTITI, WAFAA ENNEFFAH, BOUCHRA MEDDAH, MUSTAPHA BOUATIA
The GPG was developed in a concern of practices standardization to guarantee the safety and efficacy of parenteral antibiotics, especially those stored in vials which reuse in possible only if conditions of administration and stability are respected.
We developed a Good Practice Guide (GPG) for the usage of major available parenteral antibiotics.
After we listed all parenteral antibiotics available at the hospital pharmacy, we selected the most used ones and we synthesized all manufacturers’ data to establish a GPG for their administration. We also used literature data to complete missing information in “Summaries of Product Characteristics” related to pediatric use of these drugs. Finally we determined the most antibiotics consuming units according to their defined daily doses, where GPG recommendations will be implemented, before their extension to all other units.
The GPG concerned the most used antibiotics, which mainly belong to the following classes: Beta-lactam, Glycopeptide and Imidazole antibiotics, Aminoglycosides and Quinolones. It specifies the galenical presentation, used solvents, volume and duration of administration, stability after reconstitution as well as incompatibilities and special measures relating to the use of these drugs. The most antibiotics consuming units are pediatric intensive care units, “IIB” pediatric unit and pediatric surgical emergency department.
The approach used in this work can be adopted in other similar structures in order to establish GPGs within the framework of a quality control policy aiming to raise the standard of care.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
S. IBAÑEZ GARCIA, C.G. RODRIGUEZ-GONZALEZ, A. GIMENEZ-MANZORRO, E. CHAMORRO DE VEGA, R. COLLADO-BORELL, E. LOBATO-MATILLA, A. DE LORENZO-PINTO, M. TOVAR-POZO, A. HERRANZ-ALONSO, M. SANJURJO-SAEZ
CHC affects approximately 3% of the world’s population. The development of well tolerated and effective AADs has changed the therapeutic landscape. These therapies have a high efficacy with a good safety profile. Numerous challenges in terms of patient education, monitoring, medication errors, drug interactions and adherence exist. Our National Health System launched a strategy plan for proper CHC management in April 2015, establishing, among other things, measures to optimise AAD use.
We have developed a pharmaceutical care programme.
I. The following protocols were defined:
– A case selection and treatment guideline, following the recommendations from health authorities.
– A protocol for the management of drug interactions.
– A protocol with recommended dosages and administration techniques.
– A protocol with potential adverse drug events and recommendations about how to prevent and manage them.
– A protocol about clinical interview to ensure patient literacy and co-responsability.
– Patients information leaflets.
II. The pharmacy department was provided with:
– 3 full time pharmacists.
– 2 patient information offices.
– a queue management system.
III. Appointment scheduling:
Pharmacy visits were scheduled after the hepatologist/infectious disease specialist appointments every 28 days.
IV. The clinical interviews were documented in the electronic health record.
A multidisciplinary team was formed with two hepatologists, one infectious disease specialist, three clinical pharmacists and one nurse to:
– Address the key points associated with the safe and efficient use of AADs.
– Create a useful clinical guideline.
– Identify staffing and logistics needs.
No of patients included in the programme: 674
No of initial visits: 674
No of follow-up visits: 1750
No of patients attended/day: 19.9
No (%) adherent patients at the end of treatment: 412/412 (100%)
No of pharmacist interventions: 195
No (%) pharmacist interventions accepted: 194 (99%)
Average waiting time to be attended by the pharmacist: 15 min
No of queries made to the hospital pharmacist: 84
No of adverse drug events reported to the pharmacovigilance centre: 31
Cost savings (€): 121 194
This initiative provides a set of recommendations regarding CHC management and a support guide to standardise and guarantee high quality pharmaceutical care.
The next step is to develop pharmaceutical care programmes for the management of other pathologies following the same methodology that we have used for this initiative.
