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.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
RBH, Rie Bager Hansen (presenting author), rie.bager.hansen@regionh.dk
ALK, Annabel Lee Krarup
The Capital Region Pharmacy, Hvidovre, Denmark and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Amager og Hvidovre Hospital, Copenhagen
Patients undergoing acute orthopaedic surgery experience significant pain. The choice of pain-relieving treatment is based on national guidelines and regulatory actions. Considering the U.S. Opioid Crisis and the risk of opioid addiction, it was in 2022 politically decided by the Capital Region of Denmark to focus on consumption patterns of opioids within the region’s hospitals. Morphine is considered an opioid with a lower risk of misuse and was recommended as the first-line opioid. At the start of 2022, the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Hvidovre Hospital accounted for approximately 30% of the total oral opioid consumption with oxycodone being the preferred opioid. Thus, a strategy was initiated to shift opioid use towards morphine.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery initiated a strategy to shift opioid use in hospitalised patients towards morphine. The strategy included including education, revision of guidelines and technical modifications to promote appropriate prescribing practices.
Opioid consumption was continuously monitored and evaluated. At the same time, administration of the antidote naloxone was recorded. The initiative included 1) education about the risk of opioid misuse, 2) e-mail follow-up to clinicians reinforcing that morphine was the first-line opioid, 3) revision of pre-filled electronic prescription packages used at the ward and operating room, 4) publication and implementation of a regional guideline specifically aimed at acute pain management in the orthopaedic surgery setting, and 5) ongoing support from pharmacists to facilitate appropriate selection of opioids.
Opioid consumption effectively shifted towards morphine, with the proportion of patients receiving oral morphine increasing from about 40% to approximately 80% of patients administered oral opioids. Moreover, the shift has remained stable for the past 10 months following the last intervention and there has been no trend toward increased usage of naloxone.
Future efforts will aim to identify reasons behind patients being prescribed non-morphine opioids and to investigate the specific circumstances under which naloxone is administered. This will enable further refinement of opioid prescribing practices and enhance patient safety.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Amaia Martiarena Ayestaran, Ane Ros Olaso, Iosu Barral Juez, Cristina Saiz Martinez, Ane Latasa Berasategui.
Detection of potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs) exceeding maximum dose in elderly patients. Communicate these findings to nursing home´s (NH) medical staff adding information to make easier the review. Evaluate the results obtained after the pharmaceutical intervention (PI).
Pharmaceutical care provided in NH includes systemic reviews and drug adjustments in collaboration with clinical team to enhance the rational use of drugs.
It is designed a semi-automated pharmaceutical care circuit to detect exceeding maximum dose PIPs due to high prevalence in this population. The objective of this practice is to reduce, after a PI, PIPs to improve patient’s safety.
Selection of the most prevalent exceeding maximum dose PIPs based on STOPP-START criteria, safety notes and technical sheets from Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products: omeprazole, esomeprazole and rabeprazole ≥ 40 mg/day, pantoprazole ≥ 80 mg/day, lansoprazole ≥ 60 mg/day (PPIs); zolpidem (ZLP) > 5 mg/day; acetylsalicylic acid > 100 mg/day (AAS); citalopram > 20 mg/day; escitalopram > 10 mg/day (SSRIs); iron > 200 mg/day (Fe).
Automatic data extraction.
Registration in medical records and email notification to NH´s physicians including drug and dosage, adjustment recommendation and bibliographic reference.
Results evaluation after 2 weeks.
Limitations: way of communication and drug prescribing doctor different from NH´s doctor. To solve the first issue, an email has been sent after 1 week. On the second case, no action could be taken.
155 residents with one or more exceeding maximum dose PIPs are included from 22 centers with 2,223 elderly people linked to hospital pharmacy service. The mean age is 85.3 years and 69.7% are women.
After PI, PIPs are reduced by 66.5%.
PIPs TOTAL PPI ZLP Fe SSRI AAS
INITIAL 164 73 51 18 17 5
AFTER PI 55 20 21 5 8 1
Dose reduction and prescription discontinuation are the reasons of the PIPs reductions. Physicians justify don´t change prescriptions on 8 cases.
This semi-automated circuit is focused on PIPs. That is why the tool allows easy and rapid detection of a higher amount of patients with drug safety problems at once. In the future, it will be used for other PIPs and other NH.
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
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Anette Thomsen, Sarah Mejlvang, Maria Grønkjær
Automatic multidose Dispensing System (ADS) was implemented in April 2024 in the Hospital Pharmacy Central Denmark Region.
Before the implementation, new software functionalities were developed in the medication module (MEM) of the electronic patient record. The development included creation of new workflows in the wards and in the Pharmacy. A new functionality makes it possible for nurses and pharmaconomists at the hospitals to manually order dose-dispensed medicine (DDM) to patients who are discharged from the wards. The orders are sent from MEM to the ADS on one patient for a given time period. Medication can be ordered hourly until noon.
Medicine for 1-5 days of use can be dose-dispensed (DD) for the patients ready for discharge, which gives the following advantages:
-Improved patient safety. The transition from hospital to home now uses a concept regarding DDM that is known in the primary healthcare sector.
-Increased time for the patient to buy new medication at a local pharmacy after discharge.
-Extra time for newly added/removed drugs to be incorporated in future DDM from local pharmacies.
-Less time spent by nurses dispensing medicine for patients who are being discharged.
To support patients in the transition between hospital and home it has been important to make an easy way to order and dispense medication. Following developing tasks has been made:
-Identification of needed functionalities
– Identification of necessary IT-support
– Requirement for ADS
-Developments in MEM Development and implementation of new workflows in the clinic
All points were created in collaboration between doctors, nurses, IT specialists and pharmacy staff.
The development took around one year
All clinical wards that receive DDM can now manually order DDM for patients who are on their way home. This is a great help in the clinics.
Extending the timespan in which it is possible to order DDM to patients who are being discharged is planned.
Qualitative studies in patient safety for patients receiving dose dispensed medicine in the transition between Hospital and home is considered.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Muñoz Cid, CL; Sierra Torres, MI; Sánchez Martín, A; Martín Roldán, A; González Sánchez, B
A procedure was designed for the registration of drug allergies of patients admitted to the hospital in the electronic prescription program by reviewing the digital medical record.
Several issues lead to the need of this development:
-Lack of integration of allergy information from computerized history and electronic prescribing.
-To facilitate the appropriate triggering of alerts, correct allergy terminology, coded properly, and captured in a standard location
-Variability in the recording of this information at the different levels of healthcare (primary care and hospitalized).
-Difficulty in accessing information on drug allergies when prescribing and validating medical treatments.
-To improve Patient safety, there is a high risk of serious adverse events if the patient receives a drug to which he/she is allergic.
-Review of allergy documentation (free text), including a more detailed specification and characterization of the patient´s allergies to coded properly (allergy to medicines or therapeutic groups, contraindications, intolerances).
-Validation and configuration of the alert system stratifying risk by means of different colors of according to the information from the clinical history.
-Development of an algorithm to evaluate how to register each allergy depending on every different situation.
-Elaboration of a procedure to alert management and incorporation into the electronic prescription program.
-Dissemination of the procedure and awareness-raising of the need for proper recording.
-Preventing medication errors related to drug allergies and ensuring patient safety.
– Improving access to all allergy information for all healthcare professionals involved in the prescription and validation of medication.
– To have a standardized methodology for recording and coding allergies.
– Integrating medical record information into the electronic prescription system.
– Setting-up an effective alert system to avoid allergy errors in the e-prescribing system.
We have achieved the implementation in the Pharmacy Service of our hospital, but it has already been taken to the safety committee in order to extend this practice to all the services of our hospital and we are working on the formation of a working group within the Patient Safety Commission. We are considering extending this procedure to primary care in order to address this problem from all healthcare areas.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
K. Joyce, D. Jukes, F. Stewart
In 2023, the drug formularies across Northeast and North Cumbria integrated care system were merged, with amiodarone allocated an ‘amber’ shared care status.
NHS England guidance recommends that existing patients taking amiodarone in primary care should be reviewed to ensure prescribing remains safe and appropriate and that a shared care agreement is introduced.
The pharmacy team aimed to implement this guidance, with minimum impact on clinician workload. The approach was steered by NHS England’s comments, in June 2024, regarding the importance of teams working together to meet the pressures and demands of primary and secondary care under the direction of the integrated care board (ICB).
County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust (CDDFT) pharmacy team worked collaboratively across the primary-secondary care interface to implement shared care agreements.
The ICB medicines optimisation team worked with the CDDFT pharmacists to engage GPs and cardiologists across the interface, creating a work-plan to share resources.
An audit tool was designed to capture patients prescribed amiodarone in the 61 GP practices across County Durham, which was completed by pharmacy staff within primary care networks.
Cardiology pharmacists in secondary care reviewed the data, triaging patients according to: indication, monitoring requirements, those requiring consultant review and those who could potentially stop treatment.
The audit, returning data for 129 patients, identified 93 patients without shared care. For half of these, discontinuation was considered as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence explicitly recommends against use in atrial fibrillation. For the remaining, shared care agreements have been implemented with minimal impact on clinician time, primary care capacity and secondary care referrals.
The audit found 21% of patients without a shared care agreement were not receiving the recommended monitoring, compared to 100% receiving correct monitoring when one was in place. It may be anticipated that implementation will improve patient safety and experience through detection and avoidance of adverse events.
This initiative demonstrates the ICB and pharmacy successfully bridging care settings to improve patient care and experience and overcome challenges.
Building on these established relationships across the interface this work provides a model for sustainable collaboration on future shared care work.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Elena Blanco Saiz
It is estimated that over 80% of patients receiving treatment with cetuximab experience acneiform eruptions and/or skin dryness and flaking. Approximately 15% of these cutaneous reactions are severe, including cases of skin necrosis.
These skin lesions may predispose patients to secondary infections, potentially leading to complications such as cellulitis, erysipelas, staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, or sepsis, which can result in death.
A kit consisting of an alcohol-free moisturizing cream, an alcohol-free gel, and a sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 100 was provided to patients undergoing treatment with cetuximab for daily skin care.
When the oncology department prescribes cetuximab, the patient is informed that a kit will soon be dispensed.
The pharmacy service reviews daily the patients who will initiate treatment with cetuximab in the day treatment center. If there is a patient starting treatment, nursing staff notify us when they arrive at the center, and the pharmacy dispenses a kit while explaining its contents.
We periodically call the patient to check whether they are continuing to use it correctly, if they have noticed any changes in their skin, what changes they have observed, and whether they have needed to take antibiotics and/or topical corticosteroids.
• To date, the kit has been dispensed to 21 patients undergoing treatment with cetuximab.
• It empowers patients by actively involving them in their care.
• It prioritizes the overall well-being of the patient, as it may prevent the onset of dermatological side effects and the use of topical corticosteroids and oral antibiotics.
• The process facilitates the pharmacist’s engagement with the patient in the day treatment center and throughout the treatment, allowing for addressing concerns, answering questions, and providing information about adverse effects.
• It promotes the creation of a multidisciplinary team by involving collaboration between oncology, nursing, and pharmacy.
We present a practical approach that enhances patient safety during the oncology process.
This practice can be adopted by any center.
It is necessary to continue collecting data to obtain reliable results regarding its impact on improving patient safety.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
Feijoo-Vilanova P (1,3), Cid-Silva P (1,3), Mena de Cea A (3), Sanclaudio-Luhía AI (3), Luaces-Rodríguez A (1,3), Caeiro-Martínez L (1,3), Gómez-Costa E (1,3), Fernández-Diz C (1,3), Torres-Pérez A (1,3), Martín-Herranz I (1,3), Margusino-Framiñán L1,3
1. Pharmacy Department.
2. Informatic Department.
3. Research Group of Hospital Pharmacy. Biomedical Research Institute A Coruña (INIBIC). A Coruña University Hospital (CHUAC), Sergas. A Coruña University (UDC).
An informatic program was developed for the clinical follow-up of clinical and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) of people living with HIV (PLWH) on antiretroviral treatment (ART).
Pharmaceutical follow-up and outcomes research of PLWH must incorporate innovative solutions that allow the data optimization from electronic medical record (EMR) and PROs data, since traditional manual methods are insecure and inefficient.
Our objective is to describe a software (SiMON-PRO: Intelligent Monitoring System; acronym in Spanish) based on EMR data digitization and the PRO telematics data registry, and to describe the data collection procedure since June 2023.
A multidisciplinary group of clinicians (pharmacists and infectologists) transferred the following software requirements to the hospital’s informatic engineers: automatic incorporation of patient data from the EMR; generation of events related to clinical occurrences and alerts regarding the efficacy and safety of ART; documentation of pharmacist consultations; data analytics by business intelligence for investigational purposes.
Regarding the data capture procedure, during each visit to the outpatient clinic at hospital’s pharmacy department, a record is created that incorporates the latest digitized EMR data and the PROs data completed by patients on a mobile device, which is transferred to the software through a cyber-secure Wi-Fi connection and then to the EMR.
A software solution, SiMON-PRO, structured into six sections, was developed. 1/demographic data; 2/ epidemiology; 3/events; 4/analytics; 5/ART; 6/PROs questionnaires: about quality of life (EQ-5D-5L, HAT-QoL, MOS-HIV), chronic treatment acceptance (ACCEPT) and injection tolerance (PIN).
The software allows outcomes to be exported to the usual operating systems through Big Data and Business Intelligence. It also automatically generates alerts for assisted prescription validation and produces reports for exporting to the EMR.
SiMON-PRO is an innovative solution for the clinical follow-up and research of PLWH, increasing the quality, efficiency, and safety of healthcare. The following steps include the use of the data, events and alarms generated for better pharmaceutical care of PLWH and, gradually, design this software for other pathologies.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
S. Arraki Zava (1), A. Kandel (1), S. Herioux (1), C. Monpagens (1), L. Capayrou (2), C. Tailhades (1), V. Grenouilleau (1), S. Ferrari (1)
(1) Pharmacy Department, Pau Hospital Center, 64000, France
(2) Quality Department, Pau Hospital Center, 64000, France
In the current context of rising production of anticancer preparations (AP), our hospital has adopted the C-log® tool to improve the safety and traceability of AP administration.
Evaluation of the integration of the C-log® solution into the AP administration circuit in the oncology day ward.
From June to September 2024, a risk mapping (RM) using FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) for the AP administration circuit was conducted by a multidisciplinary team (quality and IT departments, hospital pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, logisticians, nurses, and healthcare managers). After evaluating the circuit, failures, their causes and effects were identified. A residual criticality score was calculated (C=F*S*M) for each failure, considering its frequency F, severity S, and level of control M, and classified into 3 categories: acceptable (C<4), vigilance (4≤C<10), unacceptable (C≥10). An action plan was developed with corrective measures (CM).
RM identified 39 failures: 34 acceptable, 4 unacceptable, and 1 classified as vigilance. First unacceptable risk was related to disruptive patient episode identifier (PEI) scanning due to wristband opacity. Another came from mismatches between the wristband PEI and that on the AP label, when patients had multiple administration days with different PEIs for each, while AP labels only contained the first PEI. Third one is related to nurse’s lack of training which led them to miss important administration information on the software. The last unacceptable risk was increased time to trace all protocol administrations (checkpoints, premedication, AP…). The vigilance risk was due to the inability to trace anticipated premedication intake on the software.
CM includes the use of clearer wristbands and permanent ID number instead of PEI solving unacceptable failures. We decided to use C-log® for AP administration traceability only, while CHIMIO® remains to trace all other protocol administrations. New training sessions for nurses will be scheduled.
RM highlighted C-log’s contribution to reinforce identity vigilance. It demonstrated the importance of nurse’s acceptance of the software and therefore the need for sufficient training time on the tool. Focusing on an entire protocol administration traceability, C-log® couldn’t replace CHIMIO® yet. Once all the CM are implemented, the RM will be re-evaluated to assess their impact.
Patient Safety and Quality Assurance
PAULA HERNANDO MARTÍNEZ, VIOLETA LAFARGA LAPIEZA, DAVID JAMES BOARDMAN GONZÁLEZ, GRACIA PICAZO SANCHÍZ, CARIDAD MARTÍ GIL, DOLORES BARREDA HERNÁNDEZ
The administration of medications through NGT is a common practice in the hospital setting. However, it cannot be assumed that this route of administration shares same properties as the oral route. Proper administration requires considering the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic proper1es and adapting recommendations to the medication’s pharmaceutical form(PF). Incorrect manipulation can lead to undesirable effects, such as a reduction or loss of therapeutic efficacy, as well as an increase in adverse effects, toxicity or mechanical, metabolic, and/or infectious complications.
Despite the wide bibliography on this topic, there is a lack of knowledge among patients, caregivers, and hospital staff when there is not adequate training on the use and care of the NGT.
Development of a pharmaceutical care project for patients with nasogastric tubes(NGT) to ensure the proper administration of medications through the tube and their correct handling.
In May 2024, a working group of pharmacists was formed in the Hospital Pharmacy Department (HPD) with the aim of creating a protocol for the adjustment of medications for administered through a NGT in hospitalized patients. A document was developed with general recommendations on maintenance, interactions with drugs, food and enteral nutrition, aimed at patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals to ensure the correct use of the tube. Additionally, a literature review was conducted on the various available manipulation guidelines (Technical sheets, dysphagia Guide from La Paz Hospital 2021 and the Guide for Drug Administration through Tubes Reina Sofía Hospital 2023), as well as validated apps such as (Deglufarm®, Medisonda®) which provide handling and administra1on instructions for each PF.
A daily search was conducted for hospitalized patients with nasogastric tubes to identify the need of instructions on medication handling. A fillable document was designed with the necessary recommendations for the handling of each prescribed medication during the hospitalization. During the pharmaceutical validation, patients with NGT were reviewed, and personalized reports were created according to the prescribed treatments.
To evaluate the level of patient sa1sfaction and including new needs. In addition, the aim is to implement this protocol upon discharge, in order to offer a personalized report with recommendations for the prescribed medications.
