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Hospital pharmacy as a collaborator in general healthcare and the role of the hospital pharmacist in this process forms the focus of the forthcoming EAHP Congress in Maastricht, the Netherlands
Peter Finn
PhD
Subeditor
Hospital Pharmacy Europe
The role of hospital pharmacists in adding value will be the theme of the 13th Congress of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) in Maastricht, Netherlands, on 27–29 February 2008.
Scientific committee chairman Professor Vagn Handlos said the cutting edge of European hospital pharmacy development was its ability to move closer to the needs of the clinic, while supporting consolidation of economy and quality of treatment at the level demanded by management. Congress presentations would provide examples of this process and, hopefully, inspiration for the future.
“How we add value to the traditional activities of the hospital pharmacy, such as drug distribution, production and preparation, will be examined from many different angles,” Professor Handlos said.
“The hospital pharmacist has to find solutions for problems on a daily basis – a skill that is taught as part of our academic training. However, our training does not equip us for the process of innovation.”
Presentations would consider how research leads to new developments that can be implemented as a part of the hospital pharmacy − making pharmacists’ jobs easier by helping to solve their problems, and giving added value to services.
Thus, keynote presentations will cover the role and added value of the hospital pharmacist in healthcare, by Professor Bert Leufkens (Utrecht University, Netherlands) and the value of the pharmacist as a member of the therapeutic team, by Professor Lars Heslet (National University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark). Other presentations include:
● Handling gene therapy drugs in Europe, by Dr Nicola Stoner (Cancer Research UK, Oxford, UK) and Dr András Vermes (Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands).
● Measuring the added value of the hospital pharmacist, by Dr Antonio Melo Gouveia (National Oncology Institute, Lisbon, Portugal), Dr Marianne Ivey (Health Alliance, Cincinnati, USA) and Dr Hadewig Colen (Medisch Spectrum Twente, Enschede, Netherlands).
● The value of the pharmacist in the preparation and distribution of nuclear pharmaceuticals, by Professor Per Hartvig (Copenhagen University, Denmark) and Dr Alistair Millar (Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, UK).
● The role of the hospital pharmacist in psychiatry, by Dawn Price (Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Trust, UK), Elisabeth Eide (Haukeland Hospital Pharmacy, Bergen, Norway) and Francisco Martínez-Granados (Alicante General Hospital, Spain).
● The value of the hospital pharmacist in the prescribing process, by René Groulsch (Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, Netherlands).
● Collaboration and standards for small hospital pharmacies, by Gitte Søndergaard Nielsen (Næstved Hospital Pharmacy, Denmark).
● Patient safety in Europe, by Dr Susan Proulx (Med-ERRS, Huntington Valley PA, USA).
● The role of the hospital pharmacist in childcare, by the Neonatal Paediatric Pharmacist Group (London, UK).
● IT systems for the use of the hospital pharmacy, by Dr Frits Elferink and Jenneke Wijbenga (Royal Dutch Association for the Advancement of Pharmacy, The Hague, Netherlands), and Mirjam Rommers (Leiden University Hospital, Netherlands).
● E-health solutions in hospital pharmacy, by Inger Bjeldbak-Olesen (Hospital Pharmacy Roskilde, Denmark) and Ann Jacklin (Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust, London, UK).
A satellite symposium will highlight ongoing hospital and clinical pharmacy research, organised by the Netherlands Association of Hospital Pharmacists and the Dutch Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Biopharmacy, with six typical projects on hospital and clinical pharmacy presented in 15-minute talks.
The Netherlands’ oldest city, Maastricht was founded by the Romans in about 50BC at a strategic ford − as reflected in the name, derived from the Latin Mosae Trajectum “Crossing of the Maas”. Walls were built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Sights include the main square (Vrijthof), the basilicas of St Servatius and Our Beloved Lady, and the St Pietersberg caves – a gigantic labyrinth resulting from centuries of excavation for building stone.
