EAHP’s 23rd Congress: Contributing to the advancement of the hospital pharmacy profession

EAHP's 23rd Congress: Contributing to the advancement of the hospital pharmacy profession

29 March 2018

 

Hospital pharmacists from all over the world gathered from 21st to 23rd March 2018 in Gothenburg, Sweden to hear more about the achievements of their profession and to get inspired for future developments. Like every year, the programme of the 23rd Congress of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) was packed with information. Three keynotes focusing on global health, marketing and the profession itself drew over 3400 hospital pharmacists to the second largest city in Sweden. Workshops, seminars and EAHP's synergy programme - which featured 5 synergy satellites on biosimilars in cancer and breast cancer care, biologics, anticoagulation and automation - rounded off the three-day event.

Commenting on the Congress, EAHP's President Joan Peppard remarked that 'European hospital pharmacists met the challenge presented at the 23rd EAHP Congress - Hospital Pharmacists - show us what you can do. Building on this evidence the challenge is now for healthcare mangers to maximise the benefit of the skills and knowledge of hospital pharmacists for patients in hospitals. Evidence that every €1 invested in hospital pharmacy service results in a benefit of €7 to the health system can no longer be ignored.'

The scientific programme was built around the 44 Statements of European Hospital Pharmacy which express commonly agreed objectives that every European health system should aim for in the delivery of hospital pharmacy services. To better monitor the uptake of these Statements and to help EAHP national associations to move towards Statement implementation on the national level, the EAHP implementation team launched the Self-assessment tool and the Statement Implementation Learning Collaborative Centres (SILCC) programme. The online Self-assessment tool will allow hospital pharmacists to assess the level of implementation of the Statements within their hospitals, while the SILCC programme will provide hospital pharmacists (SILCC Fellows) with the opportunity to visit hospitals (SILCC hosts) from other EAHP member countries to learn about pharmacy procedures linked to the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy. With the help of both of these tools, the EAHP hopes to improve patient outcomes throughout Europe.

EAHP's poster walk, a unique Congress feature, brought together participants and poster authors to discuss the latest research innovations. The Scientific Committee awarded the 1st prize for poster submissions to Xènia Fernández-Sala for her work on 'Linezolid dosing in patients with liver cirrhosis: standard dosing risks' toxicity'. The 2018 Good Practice Initiative (GIP) award went to Kim Florean Green for the abstract and poster entitled 'Algorithm to develop an essential drug list'.

EAHP would like to thank its Platinum Partners, Amgen, Bayer, Pfizer, BMS Pfizer Alliance, and its Corporate Partners, Omnicell and MSD for their support.

Reflecting on the programme, President-Elect Petr Horák stated that 'The 23rd European Congress of Hospital Pharmacists was a great opportunity for hospital pharmacy professionals from all over the world to share knowledge and experience, to be inspired by the latest trends and scientific outcomes, to learn new approaches in many fields of hospital pharmacy for delivering the best care to our patients. This is what we always aim for, although we have not always been the best advocates of our own contribution to public health and individual patients. In line with our theme "Hospital pharmacists – Show us what you can do", I believe we showed what we can achieve and me like all of this year's Congress attendees will bring this experience back home to patients, managers and colleagues in the multidisciplinary hospital teams. The Hospital pharmacists' role grows with the current trend of personalised medicine. Pharmacy was very personalised from its roots and I am sure that we will show our preparedness for this new trend at our next Congress. See you in Barcelona!'

During the Congress, the EAHP also announced the launch of its brand-new Synergy Masterclasses. The first Synergy Masterclass will take place on 5-6 October, 2018, in Brussels. Through a series of presentations and workshops that draw from the expertise of both delegates and facilitators the first edition will explore themes related to both leadership and management. Participation is open to all healthcare professionals interested in improving their management and leadership skills.

ENDS

For further information contact info[at]eahp[dot]eu | 00 322 669 2513

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) is an association of national organisations across 35 countries representing hospital pharmacists at European and international levels. More information about the EAHP and its history here.

2. The EAHP annual Congress is the second largest hospital pharmacy education event in the world, attended by over 3,500 professionals from across the globe. The 23rd edition took place in Gothenburg, Sweden from 21st to 23rd March 2018 and had as its theme: "Hospital pharmacists – Show us what you can do".

3. Synergy Satellites are accredited high level sessions developed and managed by the EAHP Scientific Committee and supported by industry grants. The Synergy programme is based on a needs assessment conducted by the scientific committee and attending participants may obtain continuing education points. More information about the 2018 Synergy Satellite Programme is available here.

4. The 24th Congress of EAHP will take place in Barcelona, Spain from 27th to 29th March 2019.

5. The Statement website contains more information about EAHP's Self-assessment tool and the Statement Implementation Learning Collaborative Centres (SILCC) programme here.

6. EAHP's first Synergy Masterclass on Leadership & Management will take place on 5-6 October, 2018, in Brussels. Limited seats are available! Deadline to register: 10 August 2018. More information here.

7. Requests for interviews with Joan Peppard or Petr Horák, photographs and any further information of interest to your publication and its readers can be made by contacting info[at]eahp[dot]eu