The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) has established a Special Interest Group (SIG) to gain more knowledge about the current and future use of prefilled medicines syringes (PFS) in hospitals, it has announced. EAHP’s SIG focused on the Use of Prefilled Syringes in Intensive Care Units and Operating Theatres (financially supported by BD) and FIP has prepared two surveys, targeting on the one hand professional associations, and on the other hand, health professionals and managers.
A PFS is a presentation of one or more active medicines, at the required concentration and volume, in the final syringe and ready for parenteral administration to the patient. PFS are intended to reduce errors and minimise the time taken to prepare parenteral medicine by staff in clinical areas. PFS are manufactured/prepared by the pharmaceutical industry or hospital pharmacies.
Several additional benefits and some disadvantages have been reported for PFS. The SIG is now preparing a comprehensive literature review on PFS.
Usage of PFS in hospitals in North America has been considerably larger than in Europe for many years. Recently, the use of PFS in some European countries has increased.
The surveys have been designed to collect the views and opinions of a range of health professionals, managers, and professional associations on the current and future use of PFS. Participation is completely voluntary. It should take approximately 10-to-15 minutes to complete the survey, said the EAHP. Feedback can be shared until 31 August 2022. The survey for professional associations is available in English. The survey for individual health professionals and managers can be completed in eight different languages (English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Serbian, Spanish and Turkish).
To take part in the English language version of the survey, visit: www.surveymonkey.com/r/ PFSenglish.
