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
D. Lenehan, C. Meegan
Due to the high risk nature of the NOACs, the PD has throughout 2014 and 2015 been committed to a comprehensive NOAC risk minimisation strategy, targeting all points of care to address the various safety concerns with these medicines.
The following suite of activities were introduced in a drive to improve understanding, familiarity and awareness of new oral anticoagulant (NOAC) therapy.
1 – Medication Safety Alert – Outlines the relevant background information, risks and safety tips for prescribing and administering NOACs.
2 – Quiz – a novel and fun method to ascertain the level of knowledge staff had on NOACs by incentivising participation.
3 – Prescribing information sheet – summarises all the pertinent prescribing information on NOACs to aid selection and detail the relevant clinical cautions and risks.
4 – Point prevalence study (PPS) – captured data on all NOAC patients in the hospital to identify prescribing trends and appropriateness of prescribing.
5 – Clinical checklist algorithm – identifies the key prescribing decisions and risks when admitting a patient on a NOAC.
6 – Staff educational drive – a major innovative roll-out of education sessions to medical and nursing staff.
7 – Patient education – pharmacists now educate all patients newly started on NOAC therapy.
Introduction of this comprehensive suite of activities required collaboration and communication with our nursing and medical colleagues in the hospital.
Knowledge and awareness of NOAC therapy has improved significantly among clinical staff and this has been reflected in medication variance reporting. The safe use of this high risk group of medicines is of paramount importance in order to minimise patient risk with these agents.
The appropriateness of NOAC prescribing will continue to be assessed through the medication variance reporting process and a follow-up PPS will be completed. Rationalisation of NOAC therapies will be considered through the formulary process and the education of staff and patients will remain a priority.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
A. Valladolid-Walsh, E. Domingo-Chiva, P. Cuesta-Montero, J.A. Monsalve-Naharro, E.M. García-Martínez, S. Plata-Paniagua, M.D. Pardo-Ibañez, G. Romero-Candel, J.M. Jiménez-Vizuete, R. Peyró-García
To determine the incidence of medication errors in our environment and implement enhancement systems to prevent them, which is a priority for the improvement of the drug treatment process in critically ill patients.
A clinical pharmacist was integrated on a full time basis into the multidisciplinary team of an anaesthesia intensive care unit (ICU).
The project was carried out in 3 different stages:
– First stage: a prospective observational study was carried out over 1 month to detect medication errors in anaesthesia ICU and to determine the baseline situation before the pharmacist´s intervention. During this stage, 36.27% errors were detected in overall treatments.
– Second stage (intervention stage): Over 10 months, the pharmacist reviewed the prescriptions of all patients admitted to the anaesthesia ICU, performing the appropriate interventions regarding medications. Furthermore, to educate physicians and nursing staff, we organised educational meetings, and also pharmacotherapeutic protocols and guidelines of medication administration were created to standarise clinical practice. Finally, a system for reporting medication errors was introduced.
– Third stage: a prospective observational study was carried out for 1 month to detect medication errors after the pharmacist’s intervention. During this stage, 5.9% of errors were detected in overall treatments.
– Medication errors were reduced by more than 30%.
– A pharmacist is now part of the multidisciplinary team in the ICU.
– The experience has been broadcast to the national level to promote the implementation of clinical pharmacist activities in our environment.
We are still working on the same areas to improve safety in drug therapy in critically ill patients. Currently, improvement measures that are being developed are: new pharmacotherapeutic protocols specifically for this unit; drugs and drug-diluent compatibility guidelines; new training sessions; standarised medication kits in operating rooms and implementation of the computerised prescription; and a new labelling system for syringes.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
M. Cabré Serres, T. Aguilella Vicente, E. Julián Avila, D. Rodríguez Cumplido, J.M. Pepió Vilaubí, M. Muñoz-García
As a part of a multicentric medication reconciliation (MR) study in the fragile patient, one of the phases of the project included primary care reconciliation so we had to create alliances and enable effective communication channels between the two levels of care.
During 2015, we started using direct messaging between hospital pharmacist (HP) and primary care physician. The messaging tool, which is available in SIRE and ECAP programs, allows you to send messages to all physicians caring for the patient. It also allows you to contact the usual pharmacy of the patient. Physicians receive messages automatically during the patient’s clinical course.
When patients were medically discharged, the HP performed MR. The HP contacted the next provider to inform them of changes in the medication list and safety alerts. When the patient visited the doctor, he already had the pharmacotherapy summary and pharmaceutical recommendations in the patient’s electronic clinical course. Afterwards, the HP assessed if the pharmaceutical interventions (PIs) had been accepted.
We started using the tool in January 2015. We performed 205 discharge reconciliations and have sent 143 messages. This would be 0.7 PIs/patient. PIs have been: 26.6% (n=38) remove medication, 21.0% (n=30) monitor treatment, 21.0% (n=30) increase adherence, 11.2% (n=16) modify dose, 8.4% (n=12) add medication, 6.3%(n=9) modify posology and 5.6% (n=8) replace medication. Finally, 72.7% (n=104) of PIs have been accepted and 27.3% (n=39) rejected. We can also analyse population characteristics and the drugs involved in the PIs.
We are breaking barriers between hospital and primary care with nexus of the HP, who has begun to be part of the medical team. We want to continue in this direction to improve the results of our PIs. We want to determine if our PIs improve health outcomes. Another current problem in the transition of care is hyperprescription treatments with proton pump inhibitors or benzodiazepines. A de-prescription programme could be the next step.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
C. Bilbao Gómez-Martino, M.I. Borrego Hernando, A. Santiago Pérez, M.P. Pacheco Ramos, A.E. Arenaza Peña, L. Zamora Barrios, E. Rodríguez del Río, J.C. Tallón Martínez, Á. Nieto Sánchez, M.L. Arias Fernández
MR has been proven to reduce medication errors at admission. If there are no electronic records of PCM, the information obtained by MR usually gets lost and could lead to repetition of errors.
We provided electronic updated reports of patients’ current medications (PCM) after performing medication reconciliation (MR) at admission, although the electronic medical record (EMR) is not yet developed in our hospital.
The procedure, designed in the framework of a pilot MR programme, was gradually implemented in three hospitalisation units: internal medicine, geriatrics and oncology.
In order to make the medication reconciliation reports (MRR) reliable, the pharmacist consulted primary care prescriptions and at least two other independent sources of information, such as: emergency department’s admission report, previous clinical reports, self-reported medication list or the medication itself, if possible. The information was confirmed by a standardised clinical interview. Medication discrepancies were clarified by specific closed ended questions. The rest of treatment was investigated by open ended questions.
MRR included current chronic medication, relevant medications administered on demand, herbal medicines used for therapeutic purposes and other relevant data (inappropriate medications, interactions, dysphagia, adherence). Sources of information were also detailed.
MRR were integrated within the electronic hospitalisation reports, which were easily accessible via the hospital intranet.
At discharge, printed copies of reports were handled to patients.
99 MRR were recorded. 751 PCM were registered and 183 MR errors (MRE) were detected.
We contribute to the ‘best possible medication history’ of patients. This initiative might have improved patient safety by reducing discharge and readmission MRE, although it has not yet been measured.
We enhanced the pharmacist’s role in the multidisciplinary team.
This model of electronic MRR could become a useful reference for healthcare professionals, until the EMR is implemented. The next aim is to register MRR and all pharmaceutical care information in the EMR to improve our patients’ healthcare.
Introductory Statements and Governance
T. DIMITROVSKA MANOJLOVIKJ
To highlight the classification of this drug, its dangerous side effects even to those patients not receiving it, due to intoxication when handled inappropriate, and the precautions and measures that should be undertaken to minimise the risk/danger of occupational exposure and environmental pollution with inappropriate managing of the waste and spill.
These 4 written statements were created: (1) Notification/instructions for handling cytotoxic agentS, (2) instructions for hygienic use of the toilets by patients receiving cytotoxic therapy and disposal of toxic waste on gynaecology and obstetrics wards, (3) instructions for a woman receiving methotrexate injection and (4) standard operating procedure for intramuscular application of methotrexate for nurses in the gynaecology-obstetric ward.
All statement were copied and disseminated to all departments on the ward. In November 2014 during verification of daily drug supplies to the gynaecology-obstetrics ward, I detected a package of methotrexate injections in the transporting container together with other drugs. I immediately contacted the head ward nurse and took control of the handling of the drugs on the ward, especially in the department for pathological pregnancy. The young departmental nurse responsible nurse was not aware of the classification of nethotrexate as a hazardous cytotoxic drug that should be handled with special care. Even though a drug is not given for cancer, it should still be treated as hazardous. Explanations were given to all those present at the time: nurses, gynaecologists and hygiene maintenance staff in the department.
Difficulties in persuading departmental staff of the occupational hazard, intoxication by other patients not receiving the drug and environmental pollution, particularly the danger of extravasation in this class of drugs when handled inappropriately, were overcome by repeating the explanations several times and disseminating the 4 statements.
Appropriate handling of cytotoxic drugs, improvement in patient care and protection from pollution of the environment.
Frequent controls on drug handling on all hospital wards for prevention of irregularities and to ensure safe medicines application.
Introductory Statements and Governance
A. Frisch, D. Scharlemann-Moenks, K. Heinitz, R. Frontini
Limited resources require optimisation of pharmacists’ interventions (EAHP Statement 1.3). Due to the limited number of clinical pharmacists (5/1350 beds) only a few wards were served by the pharmacy. We aimed to improve the effectiveness by covering selected patients in all wards and compared the results with a classic visit.
Instead of visiting all patients in selected wards, pharmacists focused on patients with critical renal insufficiency across all wards.
The central laboratory identified patients as high risk when their glomerular filtration rates were <30 ml/min, and alerted the pharmacy via email. For those patients, the renal pharmacist analysed the prescribed medication at least twice weekly throughout their hospital stay for medication errors, dosing and interactions, and suggested alternatives where necessary. Interventions were discussed either directly with the doctors or by written advice. The major obstacle was the fact that clinical services by pharmacists were unknown in most wards and that some of the doctors were sceptical about the pharmacist`s competency. We overcame these obstacles by intensive collaboration with the nephrology department.
Over 20 months involving 4229 visits, the renal pharmacist analysed the medication of 2125 patients who had 11 different drugs on average. The pharmacist assessed 47 584 medications, resulting in 2900 interventions, of which 1292 were renal and 1608 other. The most common interventions for renal patients were dosage adjustments (20%), contraindications (16%) and interactions (10%). Overall, the number of interventions (6.1% of medication items) and their severity across all renal insufficiency patients exceeded those on the visceral surgical ward (2.4%) over the same time as a comparator, confirming the higher effectiveness of the intervention.
To conduct further studies on medication safety, we established a centre for drug therapy safety in collaboration with the faculty of pharmacy with the aim of discovering valid criteria for identifying other high risk patients.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
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Production and Compounding
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
T. De Rijdt
Medication errors find their origin mostly in prescribing, transcribing and administration of medication. Only 4 % of the errors occurs in the pharmacy process. As we covered the major reasons by deployment of a electronic prescribing system with decision support and bedside scanning before administration the next step in augmenting patient safety is preventing dispension errors in the pharmacy.
All medication orders from the electronic prescribing system are revised by a hospital pharmacist for appropriateness and send to a set of handheld barcode scanners for guiding the pharmacy technicians through the picking process. They identify themselves, the ship label, the picking location and the medication by scanning. The scanner checks if the right drugs are dispensed for the right patient.
Due to bedside scanning all orders are electronically available and all medication have barcodes on the single dose. All locations are barcoded for reasons of replenishment of stock. By simply sending the orders to handheld terminals it’s a small effort to verify the picking.
All electronic medication orders are checked by barcode scanning or a second hospital pharmacist resulting in a diminishment of picking errors to (nearly) zero. We can show an online status of the medication order to nurses and physicians and we shifted pharmacist time from checking drugs to checking appropriateness of therapy.
In a next step we will also check retour medication by barcode scanning preventing possible misplacement.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
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