EAHP represents over 30,000 hospital pharmacists across 37 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 professional
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, Germany, Italy 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.
The Early Career Network aims to empower early-career pharmacists by sharing opportunities, insights, and success stories from across 25 member countries.
Together, we’re building a stronger, more connected hospital pharmacy community: one story, one country, one pharmacist at a time.
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.
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
Gillian Cavell
Despite the availability of RTU and RTA formulations of high-risk injectable medicines they were not always used. We developed the metric, to compare the use of RTU and RTA injectable medicines with the use of concentrates requiring further dilution or manipulation prior to administration e.g. dilution of morphine 10 mg/ml to 10 mg/10 ml prior to intravenous administration, e.g. withdrawal of 5 x 10 ml fentanyl 500 mcg/10 ml into a 50 ml syringe for continuous infusion, and identify areas for improvement.
We have developed a series of metrics to measure compliance with national guidance for the safe use of injectable medicines. The guidance recommends use of ready-to-use (RTU) or ready-to-administer (RTA) injectable products, where these are available, to reduce the risk of patient harm from errors in the preparation of injections and infusions on hospital wards.
The metric utilises pharmacy-issue data to compare the number of units of RTU or RTA formulations issued to wards and clinical areas with the numbers of units of alternative products of the same drug entity. Expressed as a percentage the metric informs the organisation of the extent to which safer injectable medicines are being used, providing a baseline against which to review practice and reinforce the need to use alternative, safer formulations. A high percentage indicates good compliance.
The metrics have been used to successfully maximise the use of a range of safer formulations including RTA potassium chloride, RTU fentanyl 2500 mcg/50 ml vials for critical care infusion, 100 mg/10 ml paracetamol in neonatal units and RTU magnesium sulphate 20% (50 ml vials) for obstetric emergencies. Since the introduction of the metrics in 2016 a monthly scorecard of performance is reviewed by the Hospital Medication Safety Committee to identify and account for deviations.
The metrics are being shared with other organisations to benchmark performance. Ideas to promote implementation and business cases can be shared between organisations who may find implementing RTA and RTU injectable medicines challenging, especially where these are more expensive than formulations in established use.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Ángel Guillermo Arévalo Bernabé, Pilar Lalueza Broto, Jordi Serracanta Doménech, Jacinto Caparrós Baena, José Manuel Collado Delfa, Jordi Aguilera Sáez, Romy Rossich Verdés, Pablo Sánchez Sancho, Juan Carlos Juárez Giménez, Maria Queralt Gorgas Torné
The burns unit of a third-level hospital includes a patient’s great heterogeneity depending on his population group and his clinical condition (extension, degree and depth of his burns, etiological agent of the burns and associated comorbidities), which makes the managing of these patients complex and they need multidisciplinary solutions. In addition, extensive burns provoke physiopatological alterations that involve changes in the pharmacokinetical and the pharmacodynamical modelling of some drugs. The knowledge that the pharmacist has about the changes that take place in vascular dynamics, the clearance and the distribution volume of the drugs, and the degree of union from these to plasmatic proteins, makes his active participation in the care of the burns patient, and in the optimisation of his pharmacotherapeutic plan, very interesting.
The integration of the pharmacist into a multidisciplinary group of assistance to the burns patient constituted as the Managing Committee of Cases and was integrated by plastic surgery, intensive medicine, intensive paediatric medicine, preventive medicine, infectious diseases, psychiatry, psychology, social work and infirmary, as well as pharmacy.
A protocol was devised that standardises and systematises the review of the pharmacotherapeutic plan of all patients in the burns unit, including burn critical and paediatric. Also, there is included a model of record and codificate of pharmaceutical interventions. The multidisciplinary group meets weekly and every patient is analysed from all clinical points of view, the pharmacist intervening in relation to the pharmacotherapeutic and nutritional plan.
The active integration of the pharmacist has been achieved in the clinical group of assistance to the burns patient. In addition, there has been created a collaborative attitude that has benefited joint projects of investigation. The degree of acceptance of the offers of modification that the pharmacist realises is 90%.
The following step must be, depending on the obtained results, to establish improvement assistance measures, including the accomplishment of protocols and the development of investigation projects that help to generate knowledge about the use of some drugs in burns patients, such as immunoglobulin or proteolitic enzymes for the extraction of bed sores.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Ana Soares, Armando Alcobia
Several clinical practice guidelines for LC recommend that multidisciplinary teams should be used to plan patients’ treatment. The evolution of thoracic oncology, namely the increasing knowledge of the diverse histologic and molecular phenotypes in non-small cell LC, has been driven to more complex treatment algorithms in recent years. This complexity increases the need for a multidisciplinary approach in therapeutic decision-making, which must be individualised and based on the best information available. The pharmacist’s inclusion in the multidisciplinary team is essential and was formerly proposed by the Pneumology Director to the Hospital Administration Board.
A hospital pharmacist is a permanent member of the lung cancer (LC) multidisciplinary team, which has met weekly since January 2016, to plan the management and treatment of LC patients in our hospital. The pharmacist brings updated information about the efficacy and safety of drug treatments, its cost-effectiveness and its availability. The pharmacist improves communication with the Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee.
The multidisciplinary team meets weekly to discuss the diagnosis and treatment options of LC patients, and includes a dedicated group of professionals: pulmonary oncologists, a thoracic surgeon, a radiation oncologist, a radiologist, a pathologist, a nuclear medicine specialist, a hospital pharmacist, a palliative care physician and an oncology nurse.
About 240 cases, corresponding to 200 patients were discussed per year. An average of 110 solicitations to the Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee were made. The multidisciplinary team grants a systematic approach to diagnosis and therapeutics, in compliance with evidence-based guidelines, improves communication and coordination between professionals and short waiting times for the patient.
The next step is to systematise real-world data collecting, from the patients treated, to better understanding the effectiveness of treatment options and the real impact of the multidisciplinary team in patient outcome, ideally, extending it onto a national level.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Dora Mueller, Maria-Theresia Pichler, Karin Kirchdorfer, Kora Koch
Prior to the implementation, insufficient time resources did not allow for clinical pharmacy services (CPS) on all surgical wards. Existing cover was not efficient or effective as drug-charts were often not available or patients discharged before pharmacy suggestions were implemented. The integration of the CPS into the centralised admission process instead of the wards resolved these shortcomings and facilitated pharmacy input to all surgical patients using this admission process.
A central surgical admissions process was launched at a 450-bed teaching-hospital in April 2018 in which patients are seen five days before surgery by an interdisciplinary team. A new clinical pharmacy service (CPS) was implemented on-site to review patients’ medical history comprising three consecutive steps:
1. Medicines reconciliation is completed based on existing patient-consultation records.
2. Recommendations for switching drugs to the hospital formulary on admission are noted on the drug chart.
3. Medication review is carried out to improve inpatient medication safety, and changes are communicated to medical staff via e-consult.
This proactive concept highlighting the advantages of interdisciplinary CPS and reflecting international evidence (e.g. patient safety, patient care, workload reduction for medical and nursing staff) convinced hospital management of its need. Resource implications included allocation of a pharmacy office on-site, development of a standard operation procedure and support for interdisciplinary teamwork on-site.
Between April and September 2018, records of all patients using the new process (n = 1527) were reviewed by a clinical pharmacist. At least one drug-related recommendation was made for 38.6% (n = 589) of all patients taking medication. This development enhances the clinical pharmacy workforce at our hospital and contributes to the quality of the admission process. Feedback from medical and nursing staff, hospital and quality management was positive throughout. We observed an improved level of awareness, higher numbers of requests for other CPS and a better understanding of the clinical pharmacists’ role within the healthcare team.
This initiative reflects how CPS can be expanded and optimised by seizing the opportunity and using existing resources. This model may be adapted for other hospital inpatient settings.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
EDURNE FERNANDEZ DE GAMARRA MARTINEZ, NÚRIA PI SALA, RAQUEL AGUILAR SALMERON, ANTONI BROTO SUMALLA, MILAGROS GARCÍA-PELÁEZ, LIDIA MARTINEZ SÁNCHEZ, SANTIAGO NOGUÉ XARAU
Antidotes are drugs used in emergency situations. Some of them often present availability issues due to shortages, high cost, complex acquisition (foreign drugs’ importation) or short validity periods. This tool was implemented in July 2015 to improve the availability of antidotes.
A virtual network was designed in order to have a tool that allows pharmacy departments to locate antidotes: to know in which centres they are stocked, how much there is of each drug and when it would expire. It also facilitates communication between centres and loan movements in case they are required.
A web-based application was developed (www.redantidotos.org). It includes a public site with general information, an updated antidotes guide and a section where non-urgent toxicological consultations could be submitted. In addition, there is a private site (accessed through username and password) where each pharmacy department might introduce the stock they have of 18 selected antidotes (anti-digoxin antibodies, anti-vipera serum, botulism antitoxin, dantrolene, deferoxamine, defibrotide, dimercaprol, calcium disodium edetate, ethanol, fomepizole, glucagon, glucarpidase, hydroxocobalamin, idarucizumab, pralidoxime, physostigmine, silibinin and uridine triacetate). Each Hospital has two key users: a ‘farmatox’ (pharmacy department) and an ‘urgetox’ (emergency department). Their participation has been crucial for the success of the project.
Currently there are 63 Spanish hospitals included in the Antidotes Network. It has been used 49 times to locate an antidote that was needed and to request a loan between centres. Thirteen antidotes were involved in these movements. The most requested drugs have been anti-vipera serum (10/49), glucagon (6/49), anti-digoxin antibodies (5/49), botulism antitoxin (5/49) and fomepizol (5/49). Additionally, recommendations were published about stock availability and use of antidotes according to hospital complexity (Emergencias 2016;28:45-54).
The network was first implemented in Catalonia and now the project is being extended to other Spanish regions (currently it has been implemented in three out of 17 regions). We aim to continue improving communication between professionals involved in intoxication management, sharing knowledge and improving the care we offer to our patients.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Emma Ramos Santana, Enrique Tevar Alfonso, Maria Jose Castillos Mendez, Maria Luz Padilla Salazar, Lucy Abella Vazquez, Jesus Ode Febles, Marcelino Hayek Peraza, Javier Merino Alonso
The implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program (AMS) is very important, but it has to be accompanied by personal resources. It is therefore necessary to effectively use the time spent in the AMS.
We have worked with the Information Technology Service to develop an “Intelligent Antimicrobial Screening Program” (IASP).
Using the information available in Electronic Health Record (EHR) and in pharmacy and microbiology applications we have developed a computer tool that analyze hundreds of situations through pre-established conditions
Currently the system analyzes more than 40 conditions related to the correct use of antimicrobials based on antibiotic characteristics, patient situation and microbiological data.
Some of the most relevant conditions are:
●Antibiotic prescribed more than 6 days.
●Patient with parenteral antibiotic for more than 3 days and with other oral medicines.
●Antibiotic that must be adjusted in patients with renal impairment prescribed in patients with glomerular filtration rate (GFR)65 years old, GFR5 days prescribed or other nephrotoxic prescribed.
●Patients with linezolid and thrombocytopenia or anemia or without an hemogram in the last week.
●Patients with daptomicyn and high creatininkinase (CK) or without a recent determination.
This software allows to collect information contained in different systems and displays it in an organized view to the user. This makes it an easily system that can be exported to other hospitals.
Our next objective is to consult the microbiological information. Therefore the system will be able to recommend about the optimal antimicrobial treatment, detecting situations in which the treatment can be de-escalated or alerting in case of resistance.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Roisin O’Hare, Andrew Dawson, Natasha Beattie, Eva McRory, Jayne Agnew, Sara Laird, Tracey Boyce, Victoria McConville
In November 2016, regional funding was provided to all of the Trusts in order to improve medicines reconciliation rates within 24 hours of admission. The weekend clinical pharmacy service to the emergency department was established from 1st December 2016.
The aim of this project was to examine the impact of a clinical pharmacist led weekend service on to the Emergency Department in xxxxxxx.
Objectives
To determine the number of medication histories and medicines reconciliation completed within 24hrs of patient admission
To evaluate the type and signficance of pharmacy interventions identified
To record the number of medications prescribed by the pharmacist.
A pharmacy service to optimise medicines use and pharmaceutical care for patients in the emergency department at the weekend was established.
We conducted a literature review on the existing clinical pharmacy services to ED. We used an Agile methodology. We established a core stakeholder group to develop a vision and a plan for the project. We used an Agile methodology with Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) with weekly ‘scrums’ and 6-8 weekly sprint meetings. We developed a data collection form to collate quantitative data; including the number of; patients reviewed by the pharmacy team, medication histories completed, medicines reconciliation completed within 24hrs of admission, pharmacist interventions, medications prescribed by the pharmacist.
We demonstrated an increase in the number of patients reviewed per day since December (average of 10) to June (average of 12). We increased the Medicines Reconciliation rate in the ED in xxxxxxx within 24hrs of admission from 0% in Nov 2016 to ~60% in Dec 2016 and ~80% in August 2017. The Pharmacy Team made on average 4.5 interventions (range 3-6) per patient reviewed (an average of 45 interventions per day). Prescribing by pharmacists demonstrated an increase in the number of medications prescribed per patient; December (0) and August (4).
The pharmacist interventions directly improved patient safety and care. Staff in the ED have anecdotally praised the service to the Pharmacy Team and have increasingly accessed the knowledge of the pharmacist at the weekend to address medication-related problems. We believe that we shaped an approach to clinical pharmacy practice in the ED which could be shared across the Trust and further across the country.
References:
1. Medicines Optimisation, the safe and effective use of medicines. Available from: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng5 Accessed on 13th October 2017.
2. Eadon H. Assessing the quality of ward pharmacists’ interventions. Int J Pharm Practice. 1992;1:145–7.
Acknowledgements:
We would like to acknowledge the work of the entire clinical pharmacy and clinical pharmacy technician staff at xxxxxxx who provide this service to the ED at the weekend and who tirelessly collected the data for this project.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Guillaume Wabont, Jean-Philippe Hammelin, Guénaëlle Faure, Cathy Debruille, Kévin Raynaud, Pascale Guillain
Clinical pharmacists and nephrologists noticed a recurrence of rehospitalization of patients who recently underwent ileostomy because of prerenal acute kidney injury. Ileostomy tends to enhance dehydration, but in each case there was a drug that was exacerbating the phenomenon by inhibiting the RAAS. The digestive and urologic surgeons had no knowledge of such pathophysiology and iatrogenia, explaining why they continued to prescribe such drugs.
We elaborated an internal guideline for the treatment of high blood pressure (HBP) in patients with ileostomy. We decided to contraindicate to those patients the inhibitors of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) or direct renin inhibitors (DRI); as well as the diuretics – even-though none of the summaries of the product characteristics (SmPC) of those drugs in question require such prohibition.
From now on, the drug(s) of the first line of treatment must be a beta-blocker and/or a calcic inhibitor. The drug(s) of the second line of treatment must be an alpha-blocker and/or an imidazoline-receptor agonist.
Therefore, we decided to set up a collective analysis of the situation with pharmacists, nephrologists and surgeons in digestive and urologic surgery, to understand the pathophysiology and to elaborate an internal guideline for HBP in patients with ileostomy.
The pharmacists first wrote a working paper retailing:
– the pathophysiology (water–electrolyte imbalance with ileostomy and deterioration under RAAS inhibitors or diuretic)
– the lack of information in the SmPC of the drugs in question
– an argued suggestion to contraindicate those drugs
– the therapeutic alternatives
Then we all met and exchanged views on the subject.
The guideline has been written in a collaborative and multi-disciplinary work. It applies to all the physicians and pharmacists of the hospital who have been informed of our approach and they have received a copy of it.
We will evaluate the respect of the guideline in our hospital as well as its impact in the lowering of the rehospitalization rate of patients who recently underwent ileostomy.
We will notify our national agency for medicines of our procedure because we think it should be a national standard.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Ishrat Saddiq Ali, Gemma Harris
The idea behind setting up this group was inspired by passionate Pharmacy Team members who wanted to ensure that the Department was abiding by the Trust’s promises and standards for patient care, making sure that patients feel welcomed, cared for and in safe hands, and to raise the profile of the work carried out by the Hospital Pharmacy Team.
In October 2014, the Pharmacy department set up a Pharmacy Patient Forum Group (PPFG).
The main aim of PPFG was to discuss ideas and share experiences from patients to support the Pharmacy Department, regarding implementing new changes to enhance patient safety and experience. This would support in delivering the Trust’s objectives for becoming best in class for patient experience.
Meetings are arranged approximately every 6 weeks and attended by:
• Trust Membership and Engagement Manager
• Pharmacy staff – Senior Pharmacist and Ward Based Services Technical Manager
• Trust members
Patient representatives were given a complementary tour of the Pharmacy Department where they could see the workforce in action and appreciate the workload of the team. The tour included:
• Dispensary
• Aseptic Unit
• Out of hours Medication Area
• And a visit to the Admissions ward where they saw the Ward Based Pharmacy team in action.
Several projects are being carried out simultaneously. The main project arose when patient representatives raised concerns about correctly identifying indications of medicines due to polypharmacy. We have designed a universal sticker images to enable patients to identify indications when faced with language barriers or vision problems. We have successfully developed a cardiology, indigestion/heartburn and pain specific sticker.
We have gained approval from other specialities regarding the images.
Another project focussed on tackling patients’ negative perceptions about discharge delays regarding medication. Patient representatives were invited to view the MEDI-365 automated dispensing machine which are utilised by Ward Based Clinical teams. This led to patient representatives viewing the pharmacy Prescription Tracking System (PTS) which is used to provide live information to all ward staff about pharmacy workload and track patients’ medication. The PTS has been further refined to produce a label which is attached to discharge medication detailing the time taken to process the prescription.
Patient representatives reported that they welcomed the opportunity to see a Pharmacy Department functioning within a busy District General Hospital
• We are looking to involve local primary schoolchildren/college students in the design of future images. This will aid in helping strengthen local community relations and raise awareness of the projects.
• We are currently working on producing a Discharge Leaflet explaining the Pharmacy Discharge Pathway.
• We find it extremely beneficial to meet via PPFG. We are keen to pursue with these meetings so we can work in collaboration on future initiatives to improve patient experience and safety
We have currently showcased our work in the following:
• Article published in Membership Connect Magazine in September 2015
• Article published in the PJ recently(http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/opinion/correspondence/obtaining-patient-feedback-via-a-forum-group/20201596.article)
• Presentation given to ‘Friends of Expert Patients Programme’ September 2016
• We have submitted an application to West Midlands Innovation Day to consider our work
• Article published in the Trust Connect Magazine in October 2016
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Ulrike Guger-Halper
The pharmacy of the hospital supplies four hospitals with cytotoxic infusions. In the past it was found that the integration of a pharmacist in the oncology team brings benefits.
Integration of a pharmacist in the oncology team
The aim was to evaluate the participation of a pharmacist in the multidisciplinary oncology team. The team consists of the clinical pharmacist, medical oncologists, residents, oncology nurses, dieticians, medical documentation assistent and a clinical psychologist.
Data were collected from May 2014 to September 2015.
All chemotherapy protocols were electronically prescribed in CATO® (computer aided therapy for oncology) and included cytotoxic drugs and concomitant medications.
In addition to production in the cytostatic unit the pharmacist participated in the daily morning meetings, the two-week tumor boards and bimonthly team meetings.
Pharmacist interventions (PI) took place during the meetings and were also communicated by phone and mails.
3335 cycles of chemotherapies were prescribed and 914 interventions were recorded.
CATO®-related PI (33,3%) were categorized in: literature research (4,7%), chemotherapy protocols (3,2%), dose selection (16,7%), treatment duration (1,4%), application/infusion time (0,9%) and others (6,4%).
Not CATO®-Related PI (66,7%) were categorized in: logistics (24,2%), patient-related (26%), drug-related (16,5%)
Under pharmaceutical participation: 15 guidelines, 1 abstract for a poster presentation, 27 work tools, 2 workshops, 2 publications, 1 lecture, 15 staff trainings, wipe samples in preparation
In this observational study we demonstrated the significant role of the clinical pharmacist as a part of the multidisciplinary oncology team. The supply by a pharmacist means to optimize treatment protocols and procedures and improving patient safety.
Medication errors occur despite electronic prescription of standardized protocols. Clinical pharmacists with special experience in oncology play an important role to identify errors in oncology.
A plausibility check by a pharmacist is still needed.
References: Sessions J. K. et al., Role of Oncology Clinical Pharmacists in Light of the Oncology Workforce Study, J Oncol Pract. 2010 Sep; 6(5): 270–272.
