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.
Education and Research
María Mar Alañón Pardo, Sacramento Corral Vinuesa, Raúl Pérez Serrano, Isabel Benet Giménez, Alfonso Ambrós Checa, Álvaro Díaz Castro, Miguel Ángel García Cabezas, Élida Vila Torres, Carmen Encinas Barrios, Marta Rodríguez Martínez
Acute intoxications cause significant morbidity-mortality worldwide, and their rapid treatment is vital.
APP-Antídotos is the first free Spanish mobile application for toxicology research, designed to facilitate immediate access to relevant information on antidote applications in toxicological emergencies.
The “Antídotos” application for mobile devices (APP) was developed by our Departments of Pharmacy, Emergencies, Intensive Medicine and Paediatrics to facilitate consultations by healthcare professionals on the pharmacological treatment of the most frequent acute intoxications in our setting.
The APP contains toxicological data from the “Antidote Guidelines” developed in our third-level university hospital, based on primary (drug information sheets, original scientific articles), secondary (Medline results, using “antidotes”, “poisoning”, “hospital pharmacy department” and “guideline” as search terms) and tertiary (toxicology databases) sources of information.
The Pharmacy Department was responsible for the graphic design, structural development and programming of the APP for mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) with Android or IOS9 operating systems, which could be downloaded free from Google Play or Apple Store.
APP-Antídotos is organized in 31 chapters on different types of intoxication and their definition, mechanism and symptoms, with recommendations on antidotes and references. It is structured in seven sections: “Information”, “Intoxication index”, “Antidote index” (37 antidotes), “Toxin index”(>240 toxins), “Notes”, “See Antidote Book in PDF” and “Telephone for Toxicological Emergencies”.
Between April and August 2016, users downloaded 2091 installations from Google Play (72.5%-Android) and Apple Store (27.5%-iOS9); 73.6% of devices were smartphones and 26.4% tablets.
The APP was downloaded from Android in Spain, 55.8%; Brazil, 5.7%; India, 5.5%; Columbia, 4.3%, Mexico, 4.0%; Ecuador, 2.7%; others, 22.0%. The distribution by language/country was: Spanish/Spain, 60.2%; Spanish/USA, 11.1%; English/USA, 7.9%; Portuguese/Brazil, 5.0%; English/UK, 4.7%; Spanish/Mexico, 1.2%; others, 9.9%. The geographic distribution of iOS9 installations was: Europe, 90.5%; Latin-America/Caribbean, 5.9%; USA/Canada, 1.4%; Africa/Middle-East/India, 0.4%, Asia/Pacific, 1.8%.
Mean user evaluations were 4.6 (Android) and 5.0 (iOS9) stars (maximum of 5 stars).
Fifty-four publications were found on social networks (48.2%-Facebook, 51.8%-Twitter), 444 shares, 1094 “I like” and 1045 video plays.
The APP will be regularly updated by the authors taking user suggestions into account, and it will be translated into English to extend its reach to other healthcare.
Education and Research
Sophie Renet, Florian Le seigneur, Ratiba Haddad, Andre Rieutord, Marie Camille Chaumais
The high turn over rate of medical and pharmacy residents (every 6 months) could jeopardize the patient’s care management as they generally lack of appropriate skills upon arrival. Our former process medication review was relying on individual and heterogeneous competencies of pharmacy residents likely to lead to sub-optimal medication review and treatment optimisation. We had to design a training program for residents according to the constraints of time and characteristics of related treatment of the considered clinical ward recruited patients.
A training program for pharmacy residents was developed and implemented. The aim was to develop the skills of the residents to allow them to perform, after 72 hours, a secure, optimized and standardized (SOS) medication review orders, according to the specificities and the “real-life practice” of the clinical department.
Through a collaborative approach (residents and seniors pharmacists, physicians, PhD student in education sciences), ADDIE (Analyse, Design, Development, Implantation, Evaluation) method was used. First, the most frequent pathologies and drugs prescribed in the cardiology department were identified to define specificities and thus custom the educational needs and skills that residents have to acquire to ensure a SOS medication review orders. The program included a 3 steps process over 3 days: (1) recognize the organisation and learning tools; (2) practice 3 clinical medication review orders simulation; (4) assess and feed-back with a senior clinical pharmacist. Some learning tools were developed: a training tool kit to guide the learners ; an aid kit, including a SOS medication review orders algorithm to follow throughout the whole process. Two years after implementation, 4 pharmacy residents have used this training program.
Our 72-hours-training program is routinely used for new pharmacy residents. It has been implemented successfully with a high acceptance. They also felt more comfortable to suggest therapeutic advices to the physicians.
The proof of concept of SOS was successfully done. We are currently extending it for 5th year pharmacy students and develop similar training program for other clinical wards (Surgery, oncology, immunology). In 2017, we expect to share it with our pharmacist colleagues working in the two closest hospitals.
Education and Research
F. Reidy, M. Duggan, A. Mathew, G. Duignan, S. Nasim, H. Ryder, B. Giblin, B. O’Connell, J. Corcoran
The management of patients on oral anticoagulant drugs in the perioperative period has become confusing due to the introduction of:
– Newer oral anticoagulant and antiplatelet drugs
– Increased number of day case surgeries and early discharge, leading to lack of optimum care of patients, with anticoagulation and thrombophylaxis measures being undermanaged, resulting in prolonged hospital stays and cancellations of procedures.
Following informal discussions with pre-assessment clinic (PAC) nursing staff, anaesthetists, pharmacists and surgeons, an evidence based management plan for thrombophylaxis and anticoagulation in the perioperative period for surgical patients was developed comprising of:
Thromboembolism risk assessment and bleeding risk stratification tool, to risk stratify all patients being admitted for surgery.
Prescribing guidelines on the management of anticoagulant drugs in the perioperative period.
Patient information leaflets on the management of anticoagulant drugs and thrombophylaxis measures pre and post procedure.
Preprocedure and discharge pharmaceutical plans to facilitate patients’ anticoagulation drugs to be managed effectively in the community.
Draft guidelines were disseminated to relevant staff and an opportunity was given for feedback over a period of 1 month. Following these recommendations, the guideline was introduced at the weekly surgical meeting. Information was then disseminated to the relevant departments.
One year later an audit demonstrated that these guidelines provided clarity with the decision making process regarding anticoagulation and thrombophylaxis, resulting in improved patient safety outcomes in the perioperative period. The need for educational training on the guidelines and simplification of the risk assessment tool was highlighted.
• Patients’ anticoagulation needs pre and post procedure can be managed with clear instructions in the perioperative period across the hospital/community interface.
The tool will be adapted to help with the decision making process regarding anticoagulation and thrombophylaxis for medical patients.
The complexities of perioperative anticoagulation are addressed in a simple way that the development of an App would benefit patient safety.
Education and Research
S. Walk-Fritz, T. Hoppe-Tichy
To improve drug safety, it is crucial to develop and maintain core competencies in a multidisciplinary medical team. Current clinical pharmacy education may provide some exposure to ward based clinical pharmacy, but so far there is no structured prerequisite training for pharmacists practising clinical medication management.
A training framework for clinical pharmacists practising medication management was developed and implemented. The area of activity included medication reconciliation, participation in medical rounds, discharge counseling, etc. The novel curriculum was designed in order to (1) support junior hospital pharmacists in acquiring clinical pharmacy skills, communication skills and personal skills and (2) help senior clinical pharmacists to maintain and improve their skills.
Senior clinical pharmacists developed a training framework:
– Initial skill adaptation for junior hospital pharmacists (eg, observe an experienced clinical pharmacist participating in medical rounds, patient case presentation and evaluation, and participation in the drug information centre).
– Maintain and improve the skills of all clinical pharmacists performing patient centred care (eg, Jour Fixe (presentation and discussion of clinical treatment guidelines, patient case presentations), journal club, supervision discussion (patient case discussion with two senior clinical pharmacists) and supervision of participation in medical rounds by senior clinical pharmacists).
The training framework has been implemented successfully with a high general acceptance. Particularly, the Jour Fixe has allowed junior staff to acquire appraisal skills and senior staff to achieve continuing professional development. The supervision discussion of patient cases has also been well appreciated as a mean of acquiring additional skills. Parts of the training programme have been implemented in the training of pharmacy interns, such as performing medication reconciliation on admission.
The implemented training programme needs to be further expanded and adapted over time. A future aim is to establish a model with the German Association of Hospital Pharmacists (ADKA) for a national systematic training module (eg, for performing medication reconciliation).
Education and Research
E. Past, C. Hofer-Dueckelmann, U. Porsche, G. Fellhofer
The increasing demand for clinical pharmacy services was combined with the will of the MI pharmacists to expand their roles and become advanced practitioners. There is no formal clinical pharmacy education in our country. Studying abroad is costly and often incompatible with private life. The head of our department promoted the introduction of the teaching bundle as a form of quality assurance for new clinical services.
A clinical pharmacy training scheme was founded for and by pharmacists of the medicines information (MI) department. Over 1 year, four UK trained clinical pharmacists facilitated: 10 workshops on clinical topics focusing on pharmaceutical care planning; monthly discussions on patient cases collected in our hospital; and bedside teaching on two wards.
The main drivers were the pharmacists´ willpower to become more clinically orientated and the prospect of being able to offer new clinical services. The instructors incorporated the preparation of the educational activities into their routine workload. There were no monetary incentives. The workshops lasted 1 h with any further discussions held after work, a challenge for parents.
Instructors presented the newest insights of the respective clinical area, alternating with group activities. Continuous evaluation led to a stronger focus on real patient cases. This approach was continued during the monthly coffee break case studies. Incorporation of bedside teaching into the rota was a challenging task.
Two pharmacists set up a clinical service on an intensive care unit. Another pharmacist started to attend ward rounds on a neurosurgery ward. Medicines reconciliation will be introduced with pharmacy involvement in a pilot project.
This training scheme is transferable to any hospital setting. Prerequisites are idealistic and formally trained clinical pharmacists combined with highly motivated colleagues wishing to take on more responsibility and willing to learn from their peers. Workshops, a journal club and bedside teaching are ongoing.
Education and Research
Susanna Saano, Tiina Koskinen, Hillevi Rautiainen, Minna Taam-Ukkonen
Education and Research
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