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.
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
It is now usual to dispense hepatitis C DAA to outpatients, whose virological success rate is high in the general population. However, subpopulations are at risk of re-infection or noncompliance for which an individualized approach with TPE is required. Role of the pharmacist is to transmit skills for starting and to assist the patient during treatment. SE are sometimes more easily disclosed to pharmacist, thereby allowing to take them into account so that the treatment can be adapted until completion. TPE benefits for these subpopulations are expected in the short term with regards to compliance and empowering the patient during treatment and in the long term to eliminate risky practices and leaving additions.
setting up and running TPE sessions for hepatitis C by pharmacists
Hepatology department, based on multidisciplinary team (hepatologist physicians, psychiatrists, addiction specialists, pharmacists, nurses and psychologists), developed a TPE program on viral hepatitis in april 2016. Following written consent, entry into the program was systematically offered to vulnerable patients (background of substance abuse, active alcohol consumption, risk of non-compliance).
Pharmacists were involved in individual sessions concomitantly to DAA dispensing, since the day when patient started TPE program. Pharmaceutical sessions aimed outpatients to acquire following competencies:
– DAA’s name, action mechanism,
– Terms of administration, what to do if forgotten,
– Side effects (SE) and their management,
– Drug interactions (adapted to outpatient treatment).
Pharmacists also answered to questions concerning the patient and monitored compliance and SE.
Interactive practical tools were developed: treatment logbook (also allowed evaluating objectives at each session), cards about known and preconceived SE, timetable for drug intake. Patients fulfilled a satisfaction survey at last session.
31 outpatients were included. Pharmacists conducted 65 sessions, 2 or 3 individual meetings per patient (one hour-long total per pharmaceutical session) depending on treatment length (8-24 weeks). 6 patients were still ongoing and 25 achieved the program. Among them, 12 had an undetectable viral load after 12 weeks (Sustained Virological Response 12) and 1 relapsed. 100% of goals were achieved as from the first pharmaceutical session. 100% of patients were satisfied about pharmaceutical session
Evaluation of program’s benefits in terms of virological success need to be continued.
Education and Research
Charlotte Ménage-Anjuère, Rakiba Belkir, Elisabeth Bergé, Audrey Decottignies, André Rieutord, Xavier Mariette, Raphaèle Séror
We needed to assess the impact of our patient education program on Sjogren’s syndrome (SESAME) in order to continuously improve it.
A playful online questionnaire was designed and implemented to assess patients’ knowledge about Sjogren’s syndrome.
A interprofessional team (3 rheumatologists, 3 pharmacists) and a 4-patient group who participated in the education program together proceeded to the questionnaire design: 1) definition of a competency framework for patients with Sjogren’s syndrome; 2) from literature review, identification of quality requirements for a questionnaire (scientific quality, opportunity to interact, means of expression, logical chaining of questions, simplicity, utility, shortness, bias prevention, playfulness, variety, online diffusion). To fulfill these criteria, we used a clear vocabulary and concise questions, included open-ended questions on patient experience, focused on the artwork, randomized the order of answer choices, and shared the questionnaire online. Once the SESAME quiz was established, a scoring system was defined by the expert group. Face validity, feasibility and reproducibility were assessed to validate the questionnaire. 25 patients were contacted to complete the questionnaire twice. Patients also evaluated the content, structure and feasibility using 12 items (understandable language, unambiguous sentences, length of the questionnaire, difficulty, web access). Reproducibility was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) on patient answers separated by 48 hours.
The questionnaire includes 28 questions divided into 4 parts: Sjogren’s signs, Sjogren’s causes, treatment, daily life with the disease. The 25 patients filled in the questionnaire twice (96% women, 54 years min-max[23;74], 4 years since the diagnosis min-max[1;20]). The questionnaire was filled in from a computer (n=38), a tablet (n=3) or a smartphone (n=9). The average response time was 19 minutes. The median score was 34 points min-max[22;46] out of 50. 18 patients evaluated the questionnaire. 15 patients or more regarded its content, organization and feasibility as “very good”. 5 patients found it difficult. The reproducibility was very high (total ICC = 0.87 IC95% [0.74-0.94], ICC on each part between 0.61 et 0.87).
The SESAME quiz is now freely available (https://etp-rhumato.typeform.com/to/qsVhR1) and all the Hospital centers caring for Sjogren patients can use it for their follow up.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
Ranaa El Edelbi, Joacim Götesson, Sanna Veijalainen, Mari Vanhatalo, Taija Heikkinen, Ulla Taipale, Gunn-Therese Lund Sørland, Margrete Einen, Magnus Dahlander
There is a great need for pharmaceutical expertise within the field of pediatric oncology and hematology, where chemotherapeutic regimens and supportive therapy often require intense treatment with drugs from many therapeutic groups. The complex drug environment created requires competence in diverse pharmaceutical subjects and many centers of pediatric oncology and hematology within NOPHO has concluded that hiring a pharmacist can cover the perceived knowledge gap and also increase the quality of the drug treatment. However, working as a single clinical pharmacist in a very specialized hospital setting such as pediatric oncology and hematology can be very difficult and time-consuming as everything depends on your own knowledge and experience. In most pediatric oncology and hematology centers it is not feasible to have more than one pharmacist and thus collaboration and discussion between different hospitals and countries are necessary.
A working group for pharmacists was established within the Nordic Society of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology (NOPHO).
The need for a group of pharmacists working within pediatric oncology and hematology was raised by pharmacist Ranaa El Edelbi at Astrid Lindgren’s Children’s Hospital, Stockholm, during the autumn of 2014. She sent out an email to all the pediatric oncology and hematology centers within NOPHO and asked if they had any pharmacists involved in the care setting. She got a positive reply from a few centers and invited the pharmacists for at first meeting in Stockholm in November 2014 and a working group for pharmacists with NOPHO was created in early 2015. The network has since then grown to 17 pharmacists from 4 countries and 10 centers.
An active working group with regular email discussions as well as Skype and physical meeting to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience. The group has also undertaken and finished a project to develop a guideline for extravasation of chemotherapeutic drugs, which was published in December 2016.
Developing a guideline for safe and accurate administration of oral chemotherapeutic drugs to children.
Clinical Pharmacy Services
A. Decottignies, D. Bouchoucha, S. Lévêque, S. Barthier, J.F. Morere, A. Marfaing, A. Rieutord
Cancer has become a chronic disease. However, the impact of the disease and related treatments on patients’ everyday life remain poorly addressed all along the patient clinical pathway. The objective was to customise support to the patient to be able to better understand and control the disease and treatment consequences.
An integrated care model based on a therapeutic education programme (TEP) was designed to better support patients living with cancer in their everyday life. The hospital pharmacy led the project, launched in October 2013 and implemented for patients in March 2015. It is called IMMPACT (impact of illness and medication in patients undergoing chemotherapy). This TEP was accredited by the National Authority (ref No ETP 13/30 in August 2013).
A transprofessional working group was formed. Our concern was to propose a smooth and safe transition from hospital to home. To do so, the hospital set up a partnership with the health network to facilitate seamless care. A prospective survey was conducted in October 2013 including 41 ambulatory patients. Three priority themes were identified: tiredness, haematological problems and digestive disorders management. According to the results, educational sessions have been collaboratively designed and implemented.
The patients group workshops began in January 2014. To date, 31 group workshops have been run. These group workshops are facilitated by trained healthcare professionals using educational tools such as Barrows Cards, mosaic characters or metaplan. 83 patients have already experienced this programme. Patient global satisfaction is >92%.
Given the success of this programme and to fulfil the growing expectations of patients, new sequences are being designed about pain, chemotherapy related neurotoxicity, socio-aesthetics and lymphoedema management as well as developing a serious game for the patient. Finally, IMMPACT extension to community pharmacists is being considered to further sustain patients empowerment and continuity of care.
Production and Compounding
Production and Compounding
Chemotherapies are generally prescribed and produced as a function of Body Surface Area (BSA). The most recent literature recommends that marketed drugs continue to use BSA-based dosing supported by clinical evidence. If not, it recommends DB with adjustments for other important parameters.
Determine which of the drugs compounded in our centralised chemotherapy production unit were potential candidates for dose banding (DB) for adults, whilst guaranteeing patient safety and meeting the needs of physicians, pharmacists and nurses.
The database of chemotherapy doses produced between 2010 and 2013 was analysed to define a Top 10 chart of the most common protocols and compounds. Dosage patterns were analysed and new bands were modelled using exponential calculus in order to aid in DB decision-making. Discussions with interdisciplinary teams and senior physicians took place in order to promote acceptance of the project and its deployment.
Oncology professionals requested an integration of bands into the electronic prescription system, the possibility to prescribe doses above those suggested using BSA and a maximum 5% margin of difference to the usual prescribed dose. They highlighted the necessity of maintaining “ready for administration” doses. For example, in 2013, 613 infusion bags of gemcitabine were produced in 111 different doses, ranging from 266 to 2900 mg. Following the new specifications, just two bands (2000 mg and 1805 mg) already fulfil 50% of annual production needs; producing five band doses streamlines 90% of annual production needs.
Chemotherapeutic doses can now be prepared in bands and the pharmacy activity can be rationalised by producing doses in batches. The imminent introduction of automation should ensure accuracy of the doses delivered. Future studies should examine product stability so that chemotherapy production planning becomes highly efficient.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
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Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
A. Rodríguez-Perez, M.I. Sierra-Torres, M.D. Toscano-Guzmán, A. Monzón-Moreno, M. Soriano-Martinez, A. Lluch-Colomer, M.D. Santos-Rubio
According to the guidelines and recommendations for the rational use of medication, prescriptions of HAARTs must be standardised following the principles of efficiency and based on the best evidence available.
A multidisciplinary group of clinical pharmacists and physicians made an easy-to-read handout that summarised the main recommendations of GESIDA for the treatment of naive patients, treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The hand-out consisted of a table with the allowed and not-allowed antiretroviral combinations and the exceptions. The multidisciplinary group disseminated the handout to the prescribers through clinical sessions. The multidisciplinary group made a 6 month study to evaluate the adherence to GESIDA, previous and after the implementation of the easy-to-read handout.
We did not have any problem implementing these recommendations or organizing the clinical sessions.
The multidisciplinary group made a retrospective study of the 6-months previous the implementation of the handout, by a chart review of the prescriptions. One hundred naive patients were evaluated. We found an eleven per cent of deviations of the recommendations, none of them justified. The multidisciplinary group made a prospective study during a 6-months period after the implementation of the handout, by a chart review of the prescriptions. Seventy-one naive patients were evaluated. We found a 7% of deviations of the recommendations, three of them were justified because of co-morbidity that contraindicated the recommended medication. We also made a follow-up of the treatment of the patients of the retrospective study, six of the eleven patients of that group changed their HAART to the recommended ones.
The multidisciplinary team has periodic meetings to evaluate the adherence to the recommendations and to study news reported by GESIDA. The economic impact of the practice is planned to be evaluated.
