19 December 2022 - Interested in automation? Join EAHP’s Special Interest Group!

The EAHP EU Monitor is a regular round up of news relevant to hospital pharmacy in Europe.

 


Join EAHP's SIG on Automated Medication Management

The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) is looking for new members to join the second phase of the work done by the Special Interest Group (SIG) on Automated Medication Management. Those meeting the eligibility criteria are encouraged to submit their CV and motivation statement by the 30th of December.

The SIG on Automated Medication Management started its work in November 2021. The SIG is sponsored by Omnicell, and the second phase of the SIG is planned to start in the first half of March 2023. The work of the group will focus on the development of a self-assessment tool building on the results of the first phase of the SIG coming from the analysis of a SIG Survey assessing the status of the automated medication management systems in Europe and a framework for the automated pharmacy. The call for the expression of interest primarily targets pharmacists.

Learn more about the eligibility criteria and the application process HERE


Help EAHP assess and advance hospital pharmacy!

Through its membership, the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) has reached out to chief pharmacists, directors of pharmacy and managers of the pharmacy in each hospital across Europe to obtain their feedback on the state of play of the profession. Until the 9th of January 2023, each European hospital pharmacy can contribute to the "Investigation of the hospital pharmacy profession in Europe – Assess and advance hospital pharmacy!".

The investigation touches on the state-of-the art of the profession and specifically on the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy. Chief pharmacists, directors of the pharmacy and managers of the pharmacy are encouraged to participate, but they can also delegate the provision of feedback to another pharmacist in their hospital pharmacy. Only one response per hospital pharmacy is needed.
Sharing your feedback on the investigation should take approximately 45 minutes. The full set of questions is available in PDF format on EAHP's website.

Access the questions HERE

Participate in the Investigation HERE

 

Join EAHP's Working Group on the Environmental Sustainability of Hospital Pharmacy Services

Interested in helping to increase carbon literacy within the hospital pharmacy profession and to identify processes where work can be done to reduce the environmental impact of hospital pharmacies in Europe? Join EAHP's Working Group on the Environmental Sustainability of hospital Pharmacy Services by mid-January.

The climate change emergency and biodiversity loss are fundamental threats to the economic, social and health wellbeing of humanity. EAHP recognises that medicines and the delivery of pharmacy services are important contributors to these threats. EAHP accepts the responsibility to provide leadership to member states in supporting local, regional and European action to minimise the environmental pollution associated with medicines and hospital pharmacy systems.

The call for the expression of interest is primarily addressed to hospital pharmacists and other professionals ideally with experience and knowledge on the sustainability of hospital pharmacies and healthcare systems. Those meeting the eligibility criteria are encouraged to submit their CV and motivation statement by the 16th of January 2023.

Learn more about the eligibility criteria and the application process HERE

 

EAHP-EANM Joint Statement

On 15 December, the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) and the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) issued a joint statement on the availability of radiopharmaceuticals in the context of the revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation.

The Joint Statement touches on the need for a flexible regulatory framework for low volume products and enhancing the security of the supply of medicines and addressing shortages. The following calls to action are included:

  • Due to the difference between commercial and non-commercial preparations of radiopharmaceuticals, EAHP and EANM are calling for a specific approach to the regulation of small-scale preparation of radiopharmaceuticals.
  • To further improve patient care, EAHP and EANM encourage (health) authorities to invest in in-house production services, including compounding services and the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals, and the provision of training tailored to specific preparations, including the expansion of training opportunities. With respect to radiopharmaceuticals, in-depth knowledge of radiochemistry, radiation safety automated procedures and radiation measurement technology are of particular importance.
  • The review of the Pharmaceutical Legislation should consider that, within hospital pharmacies and radiopharmacies, the demand for marketing authorisation should be strictly limited to starting materials and radionuclide precursors used in kit procedures and not for starting materials and radionuclide precursors if used in complex radiopharmaceutical preparations.
  • EAHP and EANM call for improved information exchange between authorities and supply chain actors and the relay of information to the end-users. For combatting medicine and radionuclide shortages, best practice sharing is essential, and implementation support for shortage management strategies needs to be provided in the interest of patient safety.

Read the full Joint Statement of EAHP and EANM HERE

 

2022 edition: Health at a Glance

At the beginning of December, the European Commission and the OECD released their joint publication 'Health at a Glance: Europe 2022'. Based on recent data, the report provides a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the key challenges that European countries must address in order to develop stronger, more resilient health systems following the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report assesses how the pandemic disrupted a wide range of different health services for patients and the measures taken by European countries to mitigate the consequences of these disruptions. It also provides comparative analyses of the health status, risk factors, health expenditure, quality and access to care in 38 European countries. In addition, Health at a Glance includes a special focus on how the pandemic has affected young people's mental and physical health. The report emphasises the need for additional measures to prevent the COVID 19 pandemic from scarring a generation of young people. For the first time, this edition covers a limited set of data for Ukraine and Moldova, the two most recent European countries to be granted EU candidate status.

Read the report HERE

 

New WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) Report

In December, the WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) Report was released. It summarizes 2020 data from 87 countries on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria that cause disease in humans. In addition, it analyses the 2021 AMR rates in the context of the testing coverage of national surveillance and provides data on antimicrobial consumption in humans from 27 countries.

The report shows high levels (above 50%) of resistance were reported in bacteria frequently causing bloodstream infections in hospitals, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp. These life-threatening infections require treatment with last-resort antibiotics, such as carbapenems. However, 8% of bloodstream infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae were reported as resistant to carbapenems, increasing the risk of death due to unmanageable infections.

Responding to trends of antimicrobial resistance requires high-level commitment from countries to boost surveillance capacity and provide quality assured data as well as action by all people and communities. By strengthening the collection of standardized quality AMR and AMC data, the next phase of GLASS will underpin effective data-driven action to stop the emergence and spread of AMR and protect the use of antimicrobial medicines for future generations.

Read the report HERE

Learn more about GLASS HERE 

 

ECCMID & Pre-ECCMID joint event on global AMR strategy

From the 15th to the 18th of April 2023, the 33rd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) will take place as a hybrid event both online and in Copenhagen, Denmark.

ECCMID continues to adapt and evolve over the years to bring something new for participants. There are two new sessions the "TAE Research Bites" and the "Selective Pressure" quiz show. The Research Bites session is co-organised by TAE and SAS members, and aims to increase young scientists' chances, especially from LMICs and economically disadvantaged regions, to give an oral presentation at ECCMID 2023. Selective Pressure will be a competitive quiz show, where groups of 4 persons can apply for participation and healthy competition in this educational and interactive session. You can learn more about each on the ECCMID website!

Ahead of ECCMID, the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) and the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance will co-host a high-level symposia/conference on 14 April 2023, 15:00 -18:30 CEST, with the aim of strengthening the links between research, policy, and practice in order to develop sustainable solutions and a broader AMR research agenda. Register to join onsite with world leaders, policy makers, the private sector, civil society and renowned scientists, who will be participating in the event. The event will also be broadcast live on the ESCMID YouTube channel for free.

Learn more and register for ECCMID HERE

Learn more about the Pre-ECCMID joint event on global AMR strategy HERE

 

ESCMID course | Measles in the 21th century: Is eradication possible and how?

Are you a postgraduate-level medical professional interested in measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases? Participated in the course "Measles in the 21th century: Is eradication possible and how?" organised by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) from the 8th to the 10th of March 2023 in Paris, France.

Learn more about the course and the registration process HERE

 

EJHP: Practising prioritisation - exploring variation in applying a clinical pharmacy risk stratification tool

The online first edition of the European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy (EJHP) recently published research exploring variation in applying a clinical pharmacy risk stratification tool among pharmacists. The outcome showed that variation exists. Focus group participants described multiple scenarios where non-patient factors were considered in assigning a priority code for the patient. A schedule of regular review of the criteria; training and peer review; tool validation; and research identifying the relationship between structured professional judgement and risk stratification tools are recommended.

Read the article HERE

 

 

 

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Assess your pharmacy with EAHP's SAT!

Since March 2018 EAHP has supported the implementation of the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy with a self-assessment tool (SAT). EAHP's SAT helps pharmacies across Europe to understand the level of Statement implementation. To ensure that as many hospital pharmacists as possible can use the SAT, different language versions (Czech, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish and Turkish) have been made available. Talk to your chief pharmacist and encourage him/her to work with the SAT. In case you are the head of the pharmacy get your team together and complete your assessment today with the help of the SAT. Learn more about SAT HERE