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
Amparo Valls-Lattur
Supervisor: Agostina Secchi
Background
Introducing a pharmacist prescriber (PP) in the Community mental health services for older people (CMHSOP) to support with follow-up appointments for memory patients as a new strategy as part of the community mental health transformation (1). The aim of this Service Evaluation was to evaluate the views of patients with dementia (and/or their carers) on a pharmacist prescribing led clinic.
After diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Dementia some patients will be started on medication to treat the disease symptoms in an effort to reduce the rate at which their cognitive abilities will deteriorate. This medication will need titrating and monitoring for compliance and side effects (2).
This new service will allow consultants to focus on diagnosis of dementia while improving waiting times for community mental health services for older people (3).
Methodology
The data was collected from a memory clinic within a community mental health team for older adults. Data was collected from patients’ and/or their carers’ feedback in the form of a survey. The purpose of the survey was explained to the patients and/or their carers and those who took part placed the questionnaire anonymously in a box at reception. The survey responses were collected on a weekly basis from the box, allowing patients and/or their carers to complete the survey in their own time.
Results
During the period of the survey (February until May 2024), 27 questionnaires were received. The majority (21) were completed by carer/family member, and 6 were completed by the person being treated (patient). Patients and/or their carers had to answer 10 questions using a 5-point likert scale: from strongly agree, to strongly disagree.
The majority of participants strongly agreed that the service provided was of high standard. For example:
• the majority agreed that the prescribing pharmacist was polite and considerate
• patients and their carers felt listened to and allowed them to ask questions
• their questions were answered
• everything was explained in a lay language
• they were provided with enough information about their medication
• patients and their carers or families felt involved in their care and treatment
• the majority of patients had confidence in the prescribing pharmacist
• they were given information on who to contact if they had any problems.
Conclusions
This project showed a positive impact of a new service introduced in the CMHSOP. The pharmacist prescribing role in mental health is a new service and has shown that both patients and their carers have all expressed a positive view of this new clinic. Both patients and carers found the pharmacist caring, professional and attentive to address their concerns.
Future work will look at quantifying how this new service has reduced the waiting time for these patients to be seen or followed up.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Sabrina Trivellato, Daniele Mengato, Francesca Venturini
Bulevirtide, available in Italy since June 2023, is the sole approved drug for treating long-term HDV. It represents a precious clinical opportunity but its technical features make it a complex therapeutic regimen to handle. It is commercially available as a powder for injection that needs daily reconstitution before subcutaneous use, has strict storage requirements (+2/+8°C), and requires familiarity with needles and syringes. As home therapy, this is the responsibility of the patient, who will therefore need to be enrolled in a PEP to ensure compliance.
A Patient Education Programme (PEP) was implemented to support patients diagnosed with hepatitis delta virus (HDV) being compliant to a complex therapeutic chronic regimen.
In July 2023, a specific pharmacist-led PEP (named “EXPLAIN”) was defined. It consists of two phases: education & training; follow-up & assistance. After clinical examination, patients were received by pharmacists and introduced to the therapy thanks to a simulation kit. Posology, storage conditions and special warnings were described and the drug together with the administration kit was delivered. During the follow-up phase the pharmacist was focused on proofing medication adherence, discussing with the patient about any problems or ADRs and drug refilling. Quality of Life (QoL, measured through EuroQoL5) was adopted as an effectiveness outcome. Evaluation feedback on the service was requested as well.
Up to September 2023, 15 patients, with a mean QoL starting score of 72,5/100±15, are assisted by the EXPLAIN program. 12 of them already accessed the follow-up phase. A single episode of medium gravity ADR was reported, but it did not affect therapy continuation. Globally, an excellent reported medication adherence (98.5% of doses taken) was registered and the educational support of the pharmacist was considered to be “essential on positively approaching the medication”.
QoL, adherence and feedback on the received service have to be proofed after 6, 9 and 12 months as well, together with a regular viral load detection to confirm referred compliance. Although the EXPLAIN program has just started, it represents a promising PEP model to be adopted in the case of complex therapies, where continuity is crucial to ensure effectiveness and safety.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Benzodiazepines and derivatives (BZD) are often prescribed over a long time period among the elderly for anti-anxiety and hypnotic purposes leading the eldery to become addicted to their treatment. However, on the long term, BZD are less effectives and may cause dependence and adverse effects (AE). It is necessary to reassess the treatment to avoid them.
This study evaluates patients’ dependence on BZD and reassesses the treatment after explaining the AE to patients.
A questionnaire for patients taking BZD at home, were developed: at first, the questions were about the reason of hospitalization, BZD’s indications, initiation date, occurrence of AE and attempts to stop treatment.
Then, the ECAB dependence test (cognitive scale of attachment to BZD) was proposed.
Eventually, explanations about BZD long term AE and an information sheet were given to patients. A substitution with short half-life BZD, dosage reduction or treatment discontinuation was proposed to the patient in collaboration with the geriatrician.
The questionnaire was completed by 34 patients. Of these patients, 44.1% came for falls and/or confusions, 27 had one BZD at home and 7 had two. About the prescribed BZD, 80.5% were for hypnotic purpose, 19.5% for anti-anxiety purpose, and 9.8% had long half-lives (not recommended for elderly).
Of 41 BZD, 46.3% had been prescribed for over 10 years.
Amid the patients, 79.4% reported AE, including 21 fall cases, 11 confusion cases and 7 somnolence cases.
Only 13 patients tried to stop the treatment.
There are 18 patients with an ECAB score greater than or equal to 6 which indicates that they are dependent on BZD (sensitivity: 94%; specificity: 81%).
Eventually, after presenting BZD AE, 6 patients switched to a BZD with shorter half-life, 10 agreed dosage reduction and 4 agreed stopping the treatment. In total, a positive result was obtained in 58.8%.
BZD are still widely prescribed and very few are re-evaluated despite the risk of AE among the elderly (often poly-pathological and poly-medicated). Given the positive results after providing an information sheet on BZD AE, it would be interesting to extend this practice to the entire hospital.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Majken Nørskov Petersen, Dorthe Bonnerup, Louise Thorsen, Lona Louring Christrup, Sune Puggaard Vogt Straszek, Charlotte Olesen
Medication review with patient interview provides the opportunity to clarify the patient’s overall drug intake along with identifying the patient’s experienced side effects. Medication review with patient interview we believe gives a more realistic picture of experienced drug related problems (DRP) and potentially DRP. This again makes the medication review more relevant and useful to the doctors.
The initiative took place in the Department of Affective Disorders, at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. Initially, the medication review was performed by hospital pharmacists without patient interview based only on medical records. We implemented a patient interview to give a more clinically relevant medication review. The interview included a structured questionnaire on typical side effects of antipsychotics.
The cost of a new workflow is always weighed against the outcome. We therefore planned and conducted a pilot study. The cost was measured as the time used for the patient interview and it was 17 minutes on average. We used DRP as the outcome. DRP is an accessible measure for the immediate outcome of a medication review. Sixteen medication reviews without patient interview were conducted and the same 16 patients were interviewed for a second medication review. Patient interview increased the number of identified DRP from 52 to 68. Due to the interview 28 new DRP were identified and 12 DRP found before the interview were withdrawn due to irrelevance.
Patient interview has been implemented in one of three inpatient psychiatric wards and in one of four outpatient clinics where the pharmacists conduct medication review. The structured questionnaire has been further developed and now includes common side effects caused by antipsychotics, antidepressants, benzodiazepines and mood stabilizers.
We still use the pilot study to show how medication review can be more relevant by using patient interview. The hospital pharmacy in Aarhus works on several levels in order to implement medication review, preferably with patient interview.
Education and Research
Caroline Hache, Stéphane Honoré, Guillaume Hache
The development of clinical pharmacy allows pharmacists to take patient-centered roles and responsibilities. However, patient-centered care requires a specific set of skills and training, such as patient-focused communication and conducting structured interviews. Thus, improvement of pharmacist-patient communication may lead to better clinical outcomes.
We developed a workshop involving patients within the training programme of residents in hospital pharmacy. The workshop focused on communication skills needed to improve the quality and effectiveness of a pharmaceutical interview.
The workshop was developed jointly by two senior clinical pharmacists and a lecturer in education and communication science. The learning process integrated: working on participants’ perception of pharmacists-patient communication, didactic learning, training activities and evaluation. The assessment of the learning effect was performed by self-, peers-, and patient-scored charts. Patients’ feedback during the training activities and assessments was highlighted as the cornerstone of the learning process.
First, we built a competency chart on communication skills needed to perform a structured pharmaceutical interview. This tool has been validated by the patients and well accepted by the learners. It was used to assess the learning effect of the workshop, and may serve as a guide for the continuous development of junior practitioners. Secondly, the workshop has actually been implemented, with both the learners and patients expressing a high general acceptance and satisfaction. Finally, preliminary results show a learning effect assessed by both peers and patients.
The involvement of patients needs to be further expanded to the training programmes of undergraduate students, residents and clinical pharmacists. A future action planned is to develop a model with the French Society of Clinical Pharmacy (SFPC) for a national systematic training module: “Improving pharmaceutical interviews’ performance through effective communication”, involving patients.
