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
Gregorio Romero Candel, Esther Domingo Chiva, Nuria Martinez Monteagudo, Jose Marco del Rio, Marca Diaz Rangel, Francisca Sanchez Rubio, Ismael Perez Alpuente, Eva Garcia Martinez, Ana Valladolid Wals
The ED is an area where medication errors are common given it´s complexity, the large number of patients with different pathologies, having to make quick decisions with little clinical information and the coexistence of professionals with different training.
The use of intravenous (IV) and high risk drugs, as well as the mixture of two or more intravenous drugs in the same diluent are usual and can lead to medication errors.
We designed an educational program based on a session for nurses of the ED to standardize the use of the most commonly administered drugs and improve patient safety
A training session for nursing staff on safe drug administration in the emergency department (ED) was performed
A training session was conducted by the fourth year resident during a two month rotation period in this area. The most common mistakes were presented to nurses based on national studies, as well as techniques for safe administration of drugs. Guides on parenteral administration of the hospital were reviewed with special emphasis on high risk drugs and how to manage them according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. We also developed a guide including the most frequent drug incompatibilities and direct intravenous administration of drugs for the ED.
The aim of the session was to train personnel at the ED in order to reduce medication errors and promote a safety culture. In turn, the development of guidelines to standardize clinical practice are useful, making information accessible and easy to use. Clinical sessions between departments allow the integration of the pharmacist in other areas.
We are still working with the ED to increase safety in drug therapy by developing new pharmacotherapeutic protocols (high risk medications protocols, perfusion protocols and new safety guidelines and training sessions). We are also working with more departments at our hospital with the experienced gained
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Nadia El Hilali Masó, Elvira Ramió Montero, Gemma Baronet Jordana, Marina De temple Pla, Paula Montoliu Alcon, Maria Jaume Gaya, Núria Pi Sala, Joan Altimiras Ruiz, Montserrat Pons Busoms
The confusion between drug names represents a common cause of medication errors due to similarities between trade names and active ingredients or vice versa. Very new drugs coexisting with others that are very well known can easily induce errors in wards, unclear prescription may lead to misunderstanding of prescription.
Development and implementation of measures to improve patient’s safety from purchase to drug prescription and administration.When we switch to a new provider maybe forced by drug shortage, we perform a review to avoid medication errors in all dosage forms.If needed, we elaborated alerts (pharmalerts) and newsletters. We applied Tall Man letters (TML) method to manage look-alike and sound-alike drugs, and to reduce prescription errors we elaborated a “Best practices on drug prescription” validated by Commission of pharmacy.
We prepared a formulary online on the intranet where pharmacist introduces relevant drug information as composition (i.e, excipients, contents latex or not, etc.), dilution, stability, source of errors (name, brand name,etc) among others. We compare them with existing ones to take an action, if necessary, that will be spread to all professionals. To implement TML method we followed the ISMP recommendations. First, we selected 3 antibiotics: cefOTAXime, cefAZOLin, cefTRIAXone. We changed these names in the prescription program so that the differentiation is reflected when drugs are prescribed, dispensed and administered. The implementation was explained to pharmacy, nursery and medical staff.After a month, we evaluated its acceptance.
We reviewed 61 new products: 50 trademarks, 14 new drugs and 7 dosage forms. 70.48% of products, acquired temporally or permanently, were new trademarks; 19.71% new drugs and 9.81% new dosage forms. The review is a good tool for a safe use of drugs and improves communication between healthcare providers. To evaluate TML implementation 240 questionnaires were completed: Acceptance was 92.05% (nursery and medical staff). 91.17% thought that it is possible to make a mistake with look-alike or sound-alike drugs and 68.72% that TML is useful to minimise medication errors.
The huge acceptance of TML encourages us to select other drugs from ISMP list. We have 6 pairs of drugs. We are planning to extend its use to storage shelves on wards.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Charlotte Ménage, Mickaël Le Barbu, Adrien Borowik, Christine Housset, Sandrine Voisin, Florence Lémann, Jean-Michel Descoutures
An audit of the medication storage cabinets was performed in 2015 in 19 care units. Over a three month period, more than 5000 inappropriate medecines were found which are likely to alter the process of pillboxes prepation by the nurses. Our objective was to develop a training program for nurses to identify and avoid near miss events during the medication administration process.
A simulation learning program for nurses was implemented to secure the drug pillboxes preparation.
A multiprofessional team (i.e., pharmacist, physician, pharmacist resident, head nurse, risk manager, hospital hygienist) collaboratively developed a simulation-based workshop. Two mobile cabinets were designed. They were composed of 28 medicine boxes, a patient pillbox and a laptop with a mock prescription. They included the use of a simulation scenario with errors (e.g., expired tablets, damaged blister packs, mixed pharmaceutical forms or dosages, non-formulary drugs). The nurses had to prepare the patient’s pillbox for one day and then were asked to solve five questions about good practices. A validated assessment grid was filled in by two team members, and finally discussed with the nurse about the successes and pitfalls as an education purpose. At the end of the simulation program, nurses had to answer a satisfaction survey.
47 nurses experienced the simulation-based workshop. It took 40 min for each nurse on the same week. 89% removed the deteriorated tablets remaining in the pillbox and did not unpack any unit dose. However, 81% were unable to prepare the right medicine, the right dose, the right route for the right patient at the right time, because of a lack of patient identification on the pillbox. Some critical procedures were considered not appropriately followed: i.e., detecting acetaminophen prescription duplicate (only 26%), throwing away medicines in the right disposable bin (21%), checking the tablet expiry dates (70%), using a drug for which the patient was not allergic (62%). The 47 nurses were all together satisfied (100%) with this workshop.
The simulation based program was adopted by the hospital department of nurse care. It is now integrated in the yearly re-assessment skills program of all nurses.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
PALOMA CRESPO-ROBLEDO, MARIA SEGURA BEDMAR, IRENE ESCRIBANO VALENCIANO, NURIA BLAZQUEZ-RAMOS, BEATRIZ MARTIN CRUZ, CARMEN MORIEL SANCHEZ
Patient safety is an essential component of quality care. It’s known that EDs are an element of risk for the onset of adverse events due to conditions related to patients’ comorbidity, communication problems, medication errors and working conditions like limited information about the patient, workload, interruptions, shifts, etc. It was detected that reconciliation of medication was not performed; neither validation of the medication prescribed and medications were stocked with no order and control.
A project was developed to increase patient safety in the Emergency Department (ED) based on the presence of a hospital pharmacist in the team.
First thing was to review and validate the medication prescribed in patients who were under observation, at the same time performing a reconciliation given their acute situation. This way a relationship between nurses, physicians, patients and pharmacist was established.
Then, electronic prescription software was integrated within the automated dispensing cabinet (ADC), eliminating potential errors choosing the right drug. Only when a pharmacist has checked the medication, the list appears in the display and can be taken out all at once. The main problem has been to agree the stocks and how nurses can return easily and operatively the medication in order to not accumulate it out of the ADC.
Pharmacists’ clinical figure is being disclosed in a country where Hospital Pharmacy is a central and close department. In 43 days, 428 patients got their prescription checked in the ED, 346 pharmaceutical interventions were made in 198 patients, a median (IQR) average of 1 (1,2) interventions per patient. The main reason for an intervention was the adequacy to pharmaceutical forms included in the Hospital(n=130), followed by reconciliation interventions(n=77). Category of errors detected were mostly B (NCC MERP), showing pharmacists can detect an error occurred but that did not reach the patient
Hospital pharmacists should show their clinical and logistic potential, fighting with other health professionals to increase safety and care in patients. ED is the entrance of patients into the health system and where more errors can be committed, the work of a pharmacist should start at ED to prevent errors and give support and be part of the team.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Nuria Monteagudo-Martínez, Ana Valladolid-Walsh, Gregorio Romero-Candel, Esther Domingo-Chiva, Jose Marco-del Río, Marca Diaz-Rangel, Francisca Sanchez-Rubio
To acquire clinical skills in this setting and detect and prevent medication errors. It is also an area in which pharmacists had previously never participated in our hospital and it was an opportunity to integrate in this multidisciplinary team.
Hospital pharmacy specialization programs include one year of rotations in clinical areas. The emergency department (ED) was chosen in order to develop a program to detect and prevent medication errors as a part of a multidisciplinary team.
Other tasks such as organizing drug storage, drug labelling and conservation, nurse counselling and education on issues related to medication were developed.
The pharmacy resident completed a rotation period based on the national educational program in clinical areas. Over a two month rotation period she reviewed treatments (61 patients, detecting 67 medication errors), organized and labelled drug storage, listed and identified thermolabile drugs, participated in a protocol design,…
The resident was able to improve care in acute patients in the ED. The most common errors found and prevented were: missed doses (25.3%); incorrect form to administer the drug (incompatibility diluent, infusion rate…) (13.4%); drug interaction/incompatibility (8.9%) and others.
The resident was able to organized refrigerator drug stored and developed a protocol to explain how to act in case of fridge failure.
To try to implement an ED-based clinical pharmacist program in order to detect and manage medication errors to improve safety in drug therapy, as well as to contribute to patient care with a different point of view from clinicians.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Paula Arrabal-Durán, Carmen Herrero-Domínguez-Berrueta, María Norberta Sánchez-Fresneda, Ana Mur-Mur, Ana Herranz-Alonso, María Sanjurjo-Sáez
MI and PI are normally recorded in Hospital Pharmacy Services as a method for evaluating safety. Nevertheless, classical methods for reporting MI do not allow for a correct classification in the field of clinical trials. The reason is their more complex processes involving drugs compared to the processes in daily clinical practice. If there are no specific categories, the information obtained by recording usually gets lost and could not reflect exactly what occurred. In September 2016, a clinical tool to notify MI and PI was implemented in the Pharmacy Service, with the aim of unifying their classification criteria and gathering complete information for analysis and further implementation of improvement measures.
A database to notify medication incidents (MI) and pharmaceutical interventions (PI) in the Clinical Trials Unit was developed in the Pharmacy Service of a tertiary hospital.
All the processes involving drugs in clinical trials were evaluated by a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). For each process, the possible incidents and their resulting effects on the patient were recorded. After that, a database was designed in Microsoft® Access with defined lists of choices to allow pharmacists notify both MI and PI that occur in the Clinical Trials Unit.
A database with the following information has been implemented:
a) Identification of the MI:
1. Date of the MI.
2. Number of patient.
3. Clinical Trial protocol.
4. Investigational product.
b) Process in which the MI took place (16 options).
c) Process in which the MI was detected (16 options).
d) Process that caused the MI (24 options).
e) Person who detected the MI (9 options).
f) Did any PI take place? (Yes/No).
g) PI performed (12 options).
h) Did the MI reach the patient? (Yes/No).
i) MI that reached the patient (21 options).
j) Patient outcome (8 options).
k) Effect in the clinical trial (4 options).
The implemented notification system will be further expanded and adapted over time.
Future aim is to analyse MI for establishing improvement measures and checking their results.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Marie-Claire Jago-Byrne, Sinead McCool, Caroline Reidy, Stephen Byrne
Published research had demonstrated that 50% of discharge prescriptions were non-reconciled(1). A recent study demonstrated that 43% of patients experienced post-discharge medication errors(2). The prevalence of polypharmacy (>5 medications) has increased over the 15 years to 2012, from 17.8% to 60.4% in people 65 years and older in Ireland(3).
The aim of this project was to improve medication safety at the point of hospital discharge by using targeted medication reconciliation and producing a computer-generated prescription. This new model for discharge prescribing was introduced for patients who met both of the following criteria in two acute hospitals:
• Prescribed 9 or more medications, at the time of admission.
• Aged 70 years and over
The new model for discharge prescribing used collaborative medication reconciliation and the e-Discharge software to improve the quality of discharge prescriptions. The model was introduced in both hospitals and received support from community and hospital colleagues. Clinical pharmacists became the project champions and worked closely with medics during the change process. Key safety aspects were:
• Clinical double check for this high-risk process- the pharmacist and the doctor sign the prescription.
• Increased legibility
• Explanation for all prescription changes to community colleagues.
Phase 2: The software was further tested on 200 patients in a bench top exercise
Phase 1: The overall compliance with the national discharge prescription standards increased from 50.4% to 96.9% with the new model for discharge prescribing. The biggest change in compliance was observed in the three communication categories, which explain to community healthcare providers the rationale behind the medication changes made during the hospital stay. A user acceptability survey of HCP involved in the project demonstrated that all those involved had benefited from improved workflows in hospital and community settings, and more appropriate and efficient use of resources. All users requested expansion of this service.
Phase 2: This review allowed for the improvement of the e-Discharge Software using anonymised patient cases to test issues identified in Phase 1.
In Phase 3 the model will be introduced to a third hospital to evaluate transferability of the concept alongside current practice outlined above
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Tine Van Nieuwenhuyse, Sabrina De Winter, Isabel Spriet, Thomas De Rijdt
During the last decade, healthcare shifted in many ways towards a more patient-focused rather than a disease-focused approach. Hospital pharmacy services experienced a similar development. Traditional drug-oriented services expanded towards patient-oriented services by imbedding computerized clinical decision support (CCDS) in the prescribing process and implementing bedside clinical pharmacy services, both leading to improved efficacy and safety of medication use. However, due to limited resources, clinical pharmacy services are not implemented on a hospital-wide basis in Belgian hospitals.
To guarantee patient safety throughout the hospital, emphasizing patients at risk, we started in March 2016 with the development and implementation of central check of medication appropriateness.
Development and implementation of central check of medication appropriateness (COMA) in hospitalized patients in a 2000-bed academic hospital.
Based on a risk analysis, high risk prescriptions are checked by a hospital pharmacist for appropriateness. A daily check (0.5 FTE) of automatically generated queries is performed using standardized algorithms. The queries are a result of the screening of all new prescriptions in the electronic prescribing system of the last 24 hours. If an urgent intervention is necessary, in case of a serious adverse event, a phone call is carried out to the treating physician. In all other scenarios, interventions are performed via electronic warnings in the patient’s file.
– Development of 75 specific algorithms covering 5 pharmacotherapeutic areas of interest: drugs with restrictive indication, medication-related biochemical changes, evaluation of overruled interventions raised by CCDS, reimbursement of drugs, sequential therapy for bio-equivalent drugs.
– Education of 8 pharmacist involved in the COMA
– During a 6-month period, 19220 prescriptions were checked for which 8284 (43%) electronic warnings were sent and 224 (1%) phone calls were carried out. When analysed without automatic warnings for sequential therapy, 11751 prescriptions were checked for which 815 (7%) electronic warnings were sent and 224 (2%) phone calls were carried out.
For the future we obtain next goals:
• Evaluation of the current COMA, with emphasis on improving specificity
• Development of new algorithms , also expanding to other areas of interest
• Development of an easy access training tool for hospital pharmacist to perform COMA
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Claudia Wunder, Szabolcs Tobi
To introduce returns to supply chain is a critical process in distribution of medicinal products, as non-compliance with storage conditions or inappropriate handling can impair the quality and hence endangers patient safety. In terms of a continous improvement process we considered a standardization and a supervision of this field as mandatory.
A standard form for handling of returns was developed. It was designed to ensure that important process steps are done and documented. Furthermore it should offer the opportunity to learn about the reasons why users return medicinal goods to the pharmacy. After one year of usage (2015) the forms were evaluated with the objective of validation and improving the process. According to PDCA-cycle measures were deduced based on the results.
The standard form guides the process and assures
– that medicinal products are stored under quarantine until approval by pharmacist,
– that storage conditions are proved for the time the goods were out of pharmacy,
– that the quality of each returned medicinal product is checked carefully and
– that the reason for return is documented.
The standard forms were collected and evaluated concerning
– number of returns,
– reasons for returns,
– value of returns.
The standard form proved to be a useful tool to gain information about gaps in the process of distribution. The evaluation demonstrated that users had problems with ordering due to article changes and unclear names in the warehouse management system. It showed the need for education of trainees and pointed out lacks of communication between pharmacy and wards. The analysis also presented the money-saving potential of re-utilization of returns. What was achieved is an improvement of distribution process by
– implementing an intensive and standardized education for trainees,
– optimizing main data in warehouse management system,
– sensitizing the responsible persons and
– getting in closer communication with nurses on wards.
Besides that the economic benefit of the process could be proved.
At the end of 2016 the impact of the measures shall be reviewed. Benchmarks shall be deduced to audit the functionality of the process in future.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Sergio Plata-Paniagua, Alfredo Montero-Delgado, Jose Javier Arenas-Villafranca
Currently, with the extended use of social-networks (SN), information related to medication errors can be disseminated quickly and directly, and also provide interaction with professionals enhancing the information. This is very important to promote safety culture among health professionals to prevent medication errors.
Two hospital pharmacy specialists from two spanish hospitals created a project based on web 2.0 to broadcast information about medication errors and how to prevent them.
First step was to create a website in which we could post information related to medication errors. The main part of the website is the blog, where we develop all information that we consider interesting. The website also has other sections containing useful resources: photo gallery with examples of look/sound-alike drugs, infographics, educational information, information about the authors and a section where readers can share content with the authors.
Second step was to create accounts on SN to spread the information posted in the website and also for sharing original content. We chose Twitter and Facebook as ideal SN. Twitter allows sharing information quickly and concisely and also is used by a different groups of healthcare providers by allowing us a wide spread. On the other hand, Facebook allows us to reach to a different audience, especially patients.
-Currently we have more than 16.000 followers on Facebook, 5.500 on Twitter and the website receives more than 3.500 monthly visits.
-Because of the multiple warnings that we have carried out about Look-Alike/Sound-Alike drugs, some pharmaceutical companies have considered changing the packaging of their drugs.
-We have achieved more than 70.000 signatures on change.org website requesting Spanish healthcare authorities to develop guidelines for the proper packaging and labeling of drugs. Because of this initiative, the Spanish press became interested in this problem and our project and the problem of drug packaging was mentioned in multiple media.
Currently, we have included another pharmacist in our project in order to enhance the quality and periodicity of our publications. On the other hand, we are trying to work together with institutions dedicated to preventing medication errors to carry out joint projects in order to improve patient safety.
