In October 2020, the member organisations of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) adopted a new position paper on pharmacy preparations and compounding. The position aims at providing information about the practice of pharmacy preparations and compounding in hospitals and asks for a stronger embedment of compounding and reconstitution practices in European hospital pharmacies, linked to increasing capacity and training.
The different sections of EAHP’s position paper touch on the importance of compounding for addressing patient needs, the involvement of hospital pharmacies in reconstitution practices and the role of hospital pharmacists in the preparation and use of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). Linked to personalised medication, it shares information on the engagement of hospital pharmacists and the adjustments that should be realised in education and training to comply with the increased need for personalised care. To further enhance patient care in Europe, EAHP:
- Calls on health systems to create an environment that enables the provision of compounding services by hospital pharmacists based on the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy.
- Encourages health authorities to facilitate the delivery of pharmacy preparations between hospitals and to invest in compounding services, since only by building sufficient capacity, will hospitals be equipped to better respond to patient needs and extraordinary situations like pandemics and shortages of essential medicines.
- Recommends the revision of pharmacy curricula and the expansion of training opportunities for the pharmacy workforce to account for the growing demand for pharmacy preparations.
- Encourages the appointment of a hospital pharmacist as a designated person in every hospital, advocates for the increased involvement of hospital pharmacies in reconstitution practices through setting up procedures and training personnel, and promotes the creation of centralised reconstitution in hospitals.
- Requires that management of ATMPs, as licensed medications, remains the responsibility of the hospital pharmacist.
