Decentralised clinical services, with a pharmacist working in the ward at least 50% of the time or with pharmacists visiting the ward daily, are not very common in Europe. For-profit hospitals offer the service remarkably less than other hospitals, and 39.8% of hospital pharmacies offer clinical services occasionally. There is a variety of patient oriented clinical activities delivered by European hospital pharmacies, including the provision of drug information, pharmacokinetic consultations, therapeutic drug monitoring, management prevention of adverse drug reactions and medication errors. Hospital pharmacy involvement in managing the interface between primary and hospital care is less common. In general, clinical activities are not well documented. For inpatients, on average, only 14.7% and 21.9% of the hospital pharmacies that took part in the survey said they write down their interventions in the medical records and in pharmacy records, respectively. IT systems are broadly used in the provision of drug information but also in profiling patient medication and for dosage calculations. Patient safety is a major interest of hospital pharmacists and, on average, 55.0% of hospital pharmacies recorded that they have implemented a system to ensure patient safety.
BackgroundThe 2016 European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) Statements survey builds on previous surveys and focuses on sections 1, 3 and 4.ObjectiveTo collect statistical data about the level of implementation of the Statements, and identify important barriers to their implementation.MethodsAn online questionnaire was sent to all hospital pharmacies in EAHP member countries. Data were analysed by researchers from Keele University School of Pharmacy, UK and the EAHP Survey Group. If an incomplete survey was submitted, the quantitative data were not used, although any free-text responses were incorporated.ResultsThe overall response rate was 16% (904 out of 5711 requests) with 730 complete responses. In the first part of the survey, data were collected on the hospital pharmacy setting. While almost half (n=335) of hospital pharmacies served over 500 beds, 77% (n=564) of hospital pharmacies had ≤10 pharmacists. In section B, evidence was gathered about the degree of implementation of sections 1, 3 and 4 of the Statements and the main barriers to, and drivers of, implementation. The questions related to production and compounding (section 3) received very positive responses (all questions from this section received at least a 70% positive response rate), indicating that responders are having less difficulty implementing these statements compared with others. The introductory statements and governance questions (section 1) received a more mixed response. Only 343 (47%) responses indicated that the pharmacists worked routinely as part of multidisciplinary team. Many of the questions relating to clinical pharmacy services (section 4) received a more negative response overall, with six questions receiving <50% positive responses.ConclusionsThis iteration of the survey provides the EAHP with further insight into the implementation of the Statements across the member countries as well as the barriers to, and drivers of, implementation in sections 1, 3 and 4. This is essential to inform the plans for EAHP to best support their implementation.
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