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
ESTEBAN ALONSO, M TERESA; RODRIGUEZ FERNANDEZ, ZULEMA; ALAMO GONZALEZ, OLGA; GUTIERREZ FERNANDEZ, ISABEL; SANCHEZ LUQUE, LAURA; MARTINEZ TOMAS, PAULA; BENITO JUEZ, PILAR; ESPINOSA GOMEZ, M PAZ; GUEMES GARCIA, MAGDALENA.
This initiative was arose from the need to improve the quality of pharmaceutical care (PC) and stock management to ensure adequate coverage for patients. Without appointments, it was challenging to align consultations with individual patient needs and to prepare medications for the time until the next visit, as patients arrived irregularly. Additionally, multiple patients on the same treatment would often visit on the same day, increasing the risk of stock shortages. This unpredictability led to inefficiencies in both patient care and stock management. The goal was to ensure a smoother patient flow, enhance PC quality, and improve stock control through scheduled visits.
An initiative was developed to introduce a scheduled appointment system for Oncology and Hematology patients who need to collect medication from the hospital pharmacy. Previously, patients arrived without appointments, causing unpredictable patient flow and difficulties managing stock. The new system schedules patients around one hour after their medical consultations, with special arrangements for those on long-term stable treatments.
The main challenge was integrating the new appointment system into existing workflows in Oncology and Hematology. Close coordination between pharmacy staff, clinicians, and administrative personnel was essential. Patients were scheduled to pick up their medication around an hour after their consultations. Long-term patients, who need consultations every six months or more, were scheduled during less busy times, such as early mornings. This improved workload management in the pharmacy, ensuring more efficient and higher quality patient care. Effective communication with patients was key to overcoming early hesitation.
The system has resulted in a more predictable patient flow, leading to better PC quality through improved preparation and more efficient medication use, reducing shortages and surpluses. Patients now receive more personalized care, as workload is more balanced.
This initiative serves as an example of good practice, transferable to other hospital pharmacies and healthcare settings facing similar challenges. The next step is to verify patient satisfaction through surveys
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
SS Suvi Sivula, JN Jonna Niemi, KM Konsta Malmi, EA Elina Ahomäki
In 2021, over 110,000 kilograms of pharmaceutical waste was produced at HUS Helsinki University Hospital, Finland (HUS). That was almost 2.5 million euros when the value of the medicines and the pharmaceutical waste management costs were considered. In 2022, HUS Pharmacy launched a project to reduce pharmaceutical waste, both for economic and environmental reasons.
The goal was to reduce the annual pharmaceutical waste in euros and in kilograms at HUS, primarily at the Pharmacy. We also aimed to help departments to reduce their pharmaceutical waste.
The project group was formed of about 15 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from different units of HUS Pharmacy, located in different areas in Southern Finland. The project team met monthly to review the costs and causes of pharmaceutical waste at the Pharmacy. The team discussed challenges, shared good practices and came up with ideas. In addition, departments were supported in reducing pharmaceutical waste with lectures, materials, videos etc.
During the project we found three main reasons for producing pharmaceutical waste: expired products, residues of cytotoxic drugs and compounding errors. To avoid these, we created a better overview on the whole stock of the Pharmacy, internal communication was increased, and products were moved more actively between units. Unit-specific procedures were also developed, collaboration with departments was increased, and published studies were used especially to reduce cytotoxic waste.
During the project, the annual value of wasted pharmaceuticals at the Pharmacy decreased from 928,000 euros (year 2021) to 507,000 euros (year 2023). In addition, the annual amount of pharmaceutical waste at HUS reduced from 112 000 kilograms to 101 000 kilograms. Also, the total cost of pharmaceutical waste at HUS, including the value of wasted pharmaceuticals, decreased.
The project team’s work has become a permanent part of our work instead of a project.
Collaboration between all healthcare workers is in a key role for reducing pharmaceutical waste. Waste cannot be completely avoided, but it can be reduced significantly, as our project has revealed.
Procedures must be developed further, for example early notifications from departments to the Pharmacy about changes in medical practices are critical for managing our stock.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Leonor Romero, Paloma Lozano, Veronica Canales, Vanesa Dechado, Marta Puebla, Ricardo Villarubia, Isamar Gomez, Estefanía Ramírez, Juan Rodríguez, Belén Soto
According to Directive 2011/62/EU, one of the measures is the inclusion in the secondary packaging of the drug of a Unique Identifier that allows the recognition of a unitary case at any point in the supply chain until it is dispensed to the patient. Another is the development of a European repository that allows the traceability of medicinal products for human use within the European market. In Spain, in accordance with Article 84.1 of Royal Decree 717/2019 of 5 December 2009, the SNSFarma Node was established as an instrument for technological integration and information exchange with the national repository known as the SEVeM.
The logistics company of our hospital aggregates several codes corresponding to the Datamatrix of the individual containers in an electronic file, in order to send the reading automatically to Spanish Medicines Verification System (SEVeM).
The shipment of the drugs and the electronic file will be linked by the Seria Shipping Container Code (SSCC), which will univocally guarantee traceability between the two. The Pharmacy Service staff receive the delivery notes by reading the barcode without the need to scan the Datamatrix of each container.
Since the implementation of this project between July 2023 to September 2023, a total of 61 delivery notes have been registered under the code aggregation system with 27 suppliers involved. The number of packages read was 2151.
This project ensures the automatic sending of readings to SEVeM and to facilitate the reception of delivery notes at the Pharmacy Services by barcode reading.
This has allowed pharmacy staff to save time in receiving delivery notes, to improve traceability of batches and expiry dates of medicines, to improve stock control thanks to the confirmation of quantities received and to verify the medicines in accordance with European regulations to fight medicine falsifications and ensure that medicines are safe and that the trade in medicines is rigorously controlled.
A limitation is the existence of suppliers that are not involved in this project since their delivery is not done through the logistics company. In these cases, the datamatrix reading must be performed on each container individually.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
MARIANNE DE LACROIX DE LA VALETTE
Managing medications in hospitals is both a health and an economic issue.
Hospital pharmacists are working to improve supply, traceability, safety and stock management in order to meet these challenges.
Healthcare staff must be able to administer the medications prescribed to patients in complete safety, with the products available at the time of order. The management of medications within the department represents a significant amount of time that needs to be reduced.
The objective of this study was to analyse the impact of deploying automated dispensing cabinets (ADC) in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit within a university hospital in France.
In 2022, an on-site study was conducted in the cardiac intensive care unit (18 beds) at Rennes University Hospital. The aim was to quantify the time allocated to manage medications before and after the installation of the automated dispensing cabinet.
Several types of measurable metrics were identified and compared. These include picking time for nurses of medications for administration to the patient; time allocated for ordering and storing medications; time to respond to emergency orders; management of narcotics; and time in the management of expired medications.
A comparison of the pre and post installation of the automated dispensing cabinet showed nursing time savings in the picking of controlled drugs of 53%. Overall restocking time was decreased by 9%. The number of urgent order requests to pharmacy was decreased by 51%.
The time allocated towards removing expired medications was reduced by 3.8 days / year (nurse FTE). Lastly, the implementation of automated dispensing cabinets reduced the value of the department’s stock by 26%.
The time spent by nurses in managing medications was significantly reduced after the installation of automated dispensing cabinets. However, some of this time is transferred to the central pharmacy towards restocking the medications into the automated dispensing cabinets.
The automated dispensing cabinets makes it possible to monitor the stock of medicines in a department on a daily basis. This enables for data driven decision making on selection of decentralized stock and respective quantities to maintain.
The deployment of automated dispensing cabinets improves overall efficiencies and allows more time for nurses to provide direct patient care.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
María Isabel Sáez Rodríguez, Marta Eguiluz Solana, Marta Miranda Magaña
Shortages are common in our setting. Having a list of critical and must-have drugs (CMHD) specifically designed for our centre allows us to reduce risk of complications due to delays in drugs administration.
Monitoring and mitigating potential shortages of critical medicinal products and medical devices by redacting a list of critical pharmacy and health products to have in our centre.
First, we conducted bibliographic research, finding official list of CMHD by FDA, EAHP, and AEMPS.
Afterwards, we crossed those lists with the pharmacotherapeutic guide (PTG) in our centre, identifying those drugs that are considered CMHP, and checking their stock.
Discrepancies between the list provided by official agencies and our PRG were evaluated by the clinical pharmacist, taking into account our centre complexity and surroundings, nearby hospitals and type of patients attended.
With our findings, we redacted a list of CMHP specifically designed for our centre.
During our revision, we found discrepancies between our PTG and the official lists of CMHD:
• Some medicines, like certain antidotes, were not considered CMHD. These drugs were included in our list, according to intoxications incidence in our area.
• Lack of stock of must-have products in the official list. Some of them, like coagulation factors, were not considered a CMHD in our centre due to their availability in nearby hospitals. Others, like albendazole, were not included due to low incidence of disease they treated.
Evaluating each drug necessity helped us identify certain health emergencies we may come across in our centre, and prepare for them accordingly. Also, stock revision showed us which medicines have suffered from shortages in the past.
Finally, we achieved our main goal of having a specifically designed list CMHD for our centre.
Doing a revision of must-have products and adapt it to the centre’s situation enables us to have a better stock control, and serves as a back-up in case of shortages. Our CMHD list must be periodically revised, making sure it adapts to any potential changes in our centre’s situation.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
BEATRIZ MONTERO LLORENTE, ELENA GEMENO LÓPEZ, CARMEN PALOMAR FERNÁNDEZ, ANA MARÍA ÁLVAREZ DÍAZ
To avoid stock breaks of medication due to unforeseeable fluctuations in their regular consumption. To reduce claims to the Pharmacy Service (PS) for medication shortages in automated dispensing systems (ADS) and other dispensing circuits. To achieve economic savings by avoiding unnecessary loans. To manage these loans in the morning when needs are detected in advance, with the consequent reduction in the time it takes for the pharmacist to manage it during on-call hours (approximately 2 hours per loan).
We designed and implemented a tool to control in advance the stock of medication dispensed to hospitalisation and outpatient units and thus be able to forecast needs based on current prescriptions and associated habitual consumption.
1. An Excel file was developed in which the information on automated storage systems (ASS), ADS and prescriptions were integrated. It included maximum, minimum and current amount, and estimated coverage (in days) according to the consumption forecast associated with current prescriptions. We established the minimum amount based on a coverage threshold of 7 days.
2. Basic drug needs were studied (adjustment of maximum and minimum in the ASS and ADS, a dynamic process periodically reassessed according to demand).
3. The order information was added: order status, request date, last receipt date, order number and laboratory. These items allowed us to quickly locate old orders so we could address the reason for the delay in procurement.
4. We included medications stored externally to the ASS to control their stock electronically.
Loans requested annually from other hospitals were quantified as an indicator of improvement in acquiring medicines stored in the ASSs.
We obtained an annual reduction in the number of loans of 34.4% between 2019 and 2020 (125 loans vs 82) and 56.1% between 2020 and 2021 (82 loans vs 36). This result represented an average decrease in the time to manage loans of approximately 7 hours/month between 2019 and 2021.
The tool can be applied to all PS with ADS and ASS, intending to have the necessary medication available at the necessary time and thus avoid possible clinical damage to patients’ health derived from the delay in their treatment.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
LUCÍA SOPENA, VICENTE GIMENO, OLGA PEREIRA, Mª ANGELES ALLENDE, RAQUEL FRESQUET, RAQUEL GRACIA, BEATRIZ BONAGA, MERCEDES ARENERE, TRÁNSITO SALVADOR, ALBERTO FRUTOS
The growing technological development of pharmacy services involves the coexistence of traditional warehouses with automated medicine dispensing systems controlled by different computer programs. The information was splitted into different systems and databases giving rise to possible errors due to the greater complexity.
This is a threat but also an opportunity for the hospital pharmacist to lead the development, review, and improvement of medicine use processes and the use of health technologies.
KNIME data analysis covered the need of our Pharmacy Service to blend data from any source in a single file simplifying the process.
The Pharmacy Service of a tertiary-level hospital has implemented Konstanz Information Miner (KNIME) data analysis and treatment program to optimize the stock management of several medicines.
An initial algorithm was designed by the union of 7 files and can be executed at any time to obtain the updated data.
This file provides up-to-date information about the stocks, stock-outs, consumptions, orders and purchasing data of all medicines (average price, laboratory, date and number of orders, units to be received).
In addition, KNIME calculated the coverage time from consumption, and the current stock in the warehouses, obtaining a global vision of highest turnaround pharmaceuticals drugs.
The program also allows linking and merging data of the list for shortages of medicines, supply disruptions and restocking time provided by the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS).
KNIME program has been especially important in our Pharmacy Service during the pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Big data analysis has allowed the hospital pharmacist to anticipate missing specialties and to make a rapid response in ensuring the availability of Essential Medicines List (EML) composed by 75 proposed by AEMPS and 138 by our hospital (e.g. antiinfectives, analgesics, muscle relaxants, anesthetics).
KNIME is a tool that could be successfully implemented and appropriately generalized as recommended to all Pharmacy Services that use different data sources, and want to have a generalized view of the information.
KNIME represents an advance in the stock and stockpiling management of medicines specialties to work more efficiently, which improve patient care and safety.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
To avoid stock breaks by ensuring at all times the existence of the medicines included in a 2nd level hospital.
Optimization of medication management in a Hospital Pharmacy Service (HPS) through the development and use of a purchasing planner.
One obstacle we encountered was knowing the inventory in real time. This required a computer program for stock management, human resources or intelligent warehouses to enable real-time inventory control.
After the training, learning and updating of working procedures, an analysis of the consumption of the drugs included in the pharmacotherapy guide was carried out in order to calculate the minimum stocks, safety stocks, maximum stocks and order points.
Data were loaded into the management software and parameters were defined so that when a drug reached the point of order a purchase proposal would be made until the maximum stock was reached.
In February 2020, the purchasing planning system was implemented. The planner’s lists were parameterized to organize the drugs by therapeutic groups or areas of interest within the HPS. In addition, communication among all professionals was enhanced for rapid response to a lack of medication and a periodic inventory counting plan was designed to ensure adequate stock.
After changes, more than 80% of HPS medications are ordered through purchasing planning, reducing stock breaks due to never reaching the safety stock of selected drugs.
This system is applicable to all HPS that has the same management software. It is necessary to have an optimization system in the drug management to ensure their real stock in the hospital environment and their availability for patients.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
CLARA NOTARIO DONGIL, PATRICIA ARAQUE ARROYO, MARÍA MAR ALAÑÓN PARDO, ALEJANDRO MARCOS DE LA TORRE, MARÍA CARMEN GARCÍA CONDE, BEATRIZ PROY VEGA
The circuit was designed during the pandemic period responding to the COVID-19 situation. The aim was providing the best service to hospitalized patients. The activity began on March 10, 2020.
Due to the current pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, our Pharmacy Service (PS) has been reorganized and adapted its activity by areas according to the needs of a given situation.
1.- Priority areas were set up.
2.- Main activities to develop in each section were defined.
3.- There was a redeployment of the PS staff.
Pharmaceutical assistance: PS developed pharmacotherapeutic protocols, collaborated giving advice to medical staff selecting appropriated treatments and detecting the most important interactions between drugs. It also advised regarding to compatibility and stability of medication, providing in addition written information through tables and triptychs elaborated.
Pharmacotechnics: 1,320L of hydroalcoholic solution were elaborated and 1,161L that were donated to the hospital were repackaged; 5.3L of hydroxychloroquine 25 mg/mL oral suspension were prepared for patients in the Intensive Care Units (ICU).
Parenteral preparations: Perfusion elaboration was centralized in the PS; 495 infusions of midazolam 1.6 mg/mL and 1,570 of fentanyl 0.012 mg/mL were formulated to ICU. Individualized doses of intravenous tocilizumab belonged to 31 patients were elaborated.
Management and acquisition of medicines: Two new hospitalization areas and three new ICUs were set up, equipped with medication kits. We increased the frequency of medication replacement and the stock of medication in the hospitalization units was adapted. We made a continuous review of medication stocks due to high stocks turnover because an elevated demand. To guarantee the supply of medicines related to SARS-CoV-2, medication was requested through the application of “management of medicines in special situations” of the Ministry of Health. 45 applications were processed.
The project is applicable to whatever PS, a defining figure in SARS-CoV-2 health crisis´s management, giving priority to essential services.
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Daniele Leonardi Vinci, Adriano Meccio , Alessio Provenzani, Piera Polidori
The COVID 19 pandemic unprecedently challenged National Health Services to assure adequate patient care, despite a constantly escalating drugs demand. This complex situation requires appropriate planning to avoid misleading estimations, which would have consequences on patients and overall resources available.
We created a tool to perform a timely estimation of the drug needs to treat the COVID-patients based on epidemiological forecasting.
The tool’s epidemiological forecasting was based on a compartmental model in which the population is divided into three compartments (Susceptible-Infectious-Removed, SIR), and transmission parameters are specified to define the rate at which persons move between stages. The appropriate data entry was guaranteed by the creation of a form in which users can enter information regarding: The population considered, the R0 calculation, the number of already known infected cases, the application of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions and the number of hospital beds. The drugs need for the forecasted patients was calculated according to a list of critical care drugs compiled consulting previous published scientific works, national and international guidelines. The list includes 51 drugs belonging to different therapeutic group, such as: antiarrhythmics, antibiotics, antipyretics, antivirals, heparins, IV-fluids, local anesthetics, neuromuscular blockade agents, sedative agents and vasopressors. For each drug it was estimated the percentage average ICU uptake for therapeutic group and active principle.
A tool consisting of an excel template, that, based on the information inserted, automatically calculate the number of patients classified by the intensity of care (hospitalized not-ICU, Hospitalized ICU, ventilated, intubated or with shock) and creates a table that includes, for each drug to be used, the following information: therapeutic group, active principle, dosage considered, pharmaceutical form, total dosage for patients considered and total quantity of unit doses for patients considered. The tool is also made adaptable to different clinical situations, through the possibility of editing the assumptions adopted regarding the epidemiological and therapeutical parameters or the inclusion of new items in the drugs list.
Our tool represents an opportunity for the immediate and efficient estimation of the drugs necessary to assist the COVID19 patients during emergency scenarios. It will be periodically updated as new evidences will be available.
