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
L. Scherer(1), L. Lassara(1), A. Choquer(1), D. Delaitre(2), E. Maguer(2), L. Papin(3), O. Chauvel(1), G. Nicolaos(1), C. Dupont(1)
(1) Hospital Pharmacy, Hôpital Fondation A. de Rothschild, Paris, France
(2) Information Systems and Medical Technologies Department, Hôpital Fondation A. de Rothschild, Paris, France
(3) Operative unit, Hôpital Fondation A. de Rothschild, Paris, France
leontine-scherer@hotmail.fr
French regulations require traceability of Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs) to be recorded on discharge documents and in the Electronic Patient Record (EPR). An audit carried out in 2023 showed that only 69.5% of patients’ EPRs mentioned the type of IMD used. We aimed to validate the data transfer automation from the Pharmaceutical Management Software (PMS) to the EPR via an interface.
We developed an HL7 interface between our PMS and our EPR. It automatically uploads to the EPR, a file specifying the traceability data of IMDs entered in the PMS.
A “single day” audit was carried out by a single observer on three independent days (August and September 2024). Surgical program data were extracted via the medical management software (Web100T®, Dedalus): name, administrative file number (AFN), date and type of surgery, surgical specialty. Traceability data provided by the pharmacy were extracted from the PMS (PHARMA®, Computer Engineering): name, AFN, number of IMDs tracked. The presence of a traceability document in the EPR (DxCare®, Dedalus) was objectivized and the traceability delay was collected.
Over this period, 259 patients underwent surgery: (ophthalmology (74.5%, n=193), otolaryngology (9.3%, n=24), neurosurgery (9.3%, n=24), neuroradiology (5.4%, n=14), cardiology (1.5%, n=4)). At least one IMD was traced for 56.4% (n=146) of patients, with an average of 1.2±0.6 implants per patient ([1;5]; median=1). In all, traceability was achieved in the PMS for 146 patients (170 implants traced), including 139 patients within 48 hours after implantation (95.2% of patients, 150 implants). For these 146 patients, a traceability document was found in the EPR in 99.3% of cases (n=145). It was associated with the correct AFN for 143 patients. The presence of several traceability documents (2) was found for 2 patients, indicating that traceability had been carried out on 2 occasions (dispensing on different departments: common supply and specialized depot).
Opening up the interface between the PMS and the EPR automated the traceability data transfer (99.3%). The result is a complete EPR with exhaustive health traceability. These results encourage us to implement the final stage in the data transfer automation between the EPR and the shared digital medical record.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Mia Pavelics Rehn
Trine Rune Høgh Andersen
Clinical Pharmacists (CPs) in the Region Zealand Hospital Pharmacy (30 CPs) are scattered over great geographical distances on multiple hospital wards. When working with Clinical Pharmacist Services (CPS), usually just one CP is present per ward. All 30 CPs have different knowledge, seniority and specialization. To enhance the professionalism of the individual pharmacist on duty, digital communication such as chat functions are implemented for quick and easy intra-pharmacist consults.
The ward physicians and nurses experience the combined specialty knowledge of 30 CPs from each CP when engaging CPS. This is highly relevant to maintain the position of having CPS through the hospital pharmacy instead of employing one individual CP directly on the ward, which has become more common over recent years.
To illuminate how the CPs from the hospital pharmacy share knowledge by using each other in their clinical operation, data was collected during three weeks of daily work. The CPs at 10 department wards registered each time they consulted a CP colleague. Furthermore, they recorded what type of communication they used (Microsoft Teams®, telephone or face-to-face) and what the inquiry was about. Written communication in Teams chat was saved for qualitative analysis.
The collected data illustrate the utilization of collective knowledge. In the three weeks 34 consults were made using primarily Microsoft teams. In 9 cases the contact was face-to-face and in 6 cases by phone. Most common was pharmacological discussion about specific cases during medication reviews (23), followed by questions about technical issues in the electronic patient record (11), general professional discussions (7) and consults about medication shortages and alternatives (8).
This initiative illustrates how using easy and available digital communication such as Teams chat functions across geographical distances will increase professionalism and harness the collective knowledge of many CPs working in collaboration for the benefit of improved CPS.
Production and Compounding
Mathilde Roche, Annabelle Angapin, Vincent Blazy, Alexandre Hyvert, Loretta Moriconi, Matteo Federici, Bintou Diawara, Cindy Monnel, Lison Ferreol, Assia Mitha, Hail Aboudagga, Romain Desmaris
Initially, robot’s operations required prescription re-transcription and chemotherapy relabelling by technicians, leading to manual data entry risks. Robots are known for high-standardised procedures, great repeatability and limited human intervention: adding bidirectional interface enabled improvement of patient safety. Moreover, it shows significant benefits during the compounding process, streamlining pharmacy workflows and ensuring full and paperless traceability.
In 2018, our chemotherapy production unit implemented an automated anticancer drugs compounding platform, embedding two APOTECAchemo robots. This aims to meet the increasing patient-specific chemotherapy demands (78,000 preparations/year). In order to minimise human risk and optimise work efficiency, implementation of a bidirectional interface between the robots and the hospital’s Electronic Prescribing Software (EPS) was considered as mandatory, to allow exchange and clinical information retrieval.
In 2020, pharmacists and the IT team defined the interface specifications. Bidirectional information flow was implemented using Health Level Seven (HL7) standards. Interface between EPS and APOTECAmanager was developed and a comparative robot performance analysis was undertaken by evaluating processed drug products, compounded preparation numbers and actual average usage time per day. The staff (i.e. two technicians) remained identical. Data were retrieved from robot’s embedded statistical tool over three months, before (March-May 2020) and after interface implementation (July-September 2020).
During these six months, 13,746 preparations were compounded, with 95% infusion bags and 5% elastomeric pumps. Most of these preparations were produced in advance (administration on day+2 or day+3). After interface implementation, the average production raised by 40.5% (from 1,905 to 2,676/month). Interface implementation increased also the average robot operating hours from 3.6 hours/day/robot to 5.8 hours/day/robot (+61.1%). In total, 19 different molecules were compounded, including conventional anticancer drugs and monoclonal antibodies with the number of reconstituted drug vials increasing by 38.1% (from 625 to 863).
Interface between robots and the EPS was successfully implemented, thereby enabling improved safety and efficiency. Today, syringes and paediatric preparations are still made manually. They require visual and analytical controls to verify their conformity. Mid 2021, a third robot customized for syringes and paediatric preparations will be installed in the compounding unit, to secure these preparations in a more efficient way.
Introductory Statements and Governance
Eleni Rinaki, Marinos Petrongonas, Maria Fragiadaki, Leonidas Tzimis
MSs are a frequent problem in our hospital. In a study carried out in 2018, we investigated reported shortages during one year and found that 56% of cases of unsatisfied wards’ requests were due to failure of pharmacy’s procedures to restore availability. In 70% of these cases, time to re-stock was more than 4 days and strong involvement of HPs in following up and taking measures was required. The purpose of this tool is to bring together all relevant information of shortages, aiming to improve hospital pharmacy’s response as well as following-up MSs for further investigation or research.
A new software module in Hospital Information System (HIS) for monitoring medicines’ shortages (MSs) was conceived by hospital pharmacists (HPs), and it was designed, developed and integrated to the ICT system. This module helps HPs easily track which medicines were totally or partially substituted due to insufficient quantities and gives additional information (such as residual quantity of a medicine on prescription date, on inspection date, pending orders, known shortage) needed for managing MSs. In this tool, MSs and relevant information, such as causes, measures to re-stock and shortage’s impact, can be entered, centrally managed and regularly reported.
Implementation of the module in ICT system was made at zero cost by the ICT service provider, following technical specifications designed by HPs. The final product was multi-checked by HPs during development and all technical problems have been resolved accordingly.
• Quick intervention of HPs to restore medicines availability is feasible. • We can now have precise and easier follow up, with less human resources required. • MSs are collected, registered and easily utilised to draw conclusions. • HPs’ interventions to deal with MSs are easier to evaluate
ICT tools’ development is very important in facilitating hospital pharmacy’s practice, especially when human recourses are restricted. These software modules can be easily incorporated in every HIS. Pharmacists are competent and should have a central role in designing such tools. We are planning to evaluate our new MSs management procedure; in the long run, incorporating in this tool a risk assessment algorithm will be an asset.
Education and Research
Charlotte Ménage-Anjuère, Rakiba Belkir, Elisabeth Bergé, Audrey Decottignies, André Rieutord, Xavier Mariette, Raphaèle Séror
We needed to assess the impact of our patient education program on Sjogren’s syndrome (SESAME) in order to continuously improve it.
A playful online questionnaire was designed and implemented to assess patients’ knowledge about Sjogren’s syndrome.
A interprofessional team (3 rheumatologists, 3 pharmacists) and a 4-patient group who participated in the education program together proceeded to the questionnaire design: 1) definition of a competency framework for patients with Sjogren’s syndrome; 2) from literature review, identification of quality requirements for a questionnaire (scientific quality, opportunity to interact, means of expression, logical chaining of questions, simplicity, utility, shortness, bias prevention, playfulness, variety, online diffusion). To fulfill these criteria, we used a clear vocabulary and concise questions, included open-ended questions on patient experience, focused on the artwork, randomized the order of answer choices, and shared the questionnaire online. Once the SESAME quiz was established, a scoring system was defined by the expert group. Face validity, feasibility and reproducibility were assessed to validate the questionnaire. 25 patients were contacted to complete the questionnaire twice. Patients also evaluated the content, structure and feasibility using 12 items (understandable language, unambiguous sentences, length of the questionnaire, difficulty, web access). Reproducibility was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) on patient answers separated by 48 hours.
The questionnaire includes 28 questions divided into 4 parts: Sjogren’s signs, Sjogren’s causes, treatment, daily life with the disease. The 25 patients filled in the questionnaire twice (96% women, 54 years min-max[23;74], 4 years since the diagnosis min-max[1;20]). The questionnaire was filled in from a computer (n=38), a tablet (n=3) or a smartphone (n=9). The average response time was 19 minutes. The median score was 34 points min-max[22;46] out of 50. 18 patients evaluated the questionnaire. 15 patients or more regarded its content, organization and feasibility as “very good”. 5 patients found it difficult. The reproducibility was very high (total ICC = 0.87 IC95% [0.74-0.94], ICC on each part between 0.61 et 0.87).
The SESAME quiz is now freely available (https://etp-rhumato.typeform.com/to/qsVhR1) and all the Hospital centers caring for Sjogren patients can use it for their follow up.
