EAHP President Joan Peppard advises members to heighten their awareness of the Falsified Medicines Directive in 2016

Writing to national member associations, EAHP President Joan Peppard has encouraged hospital pharmacists in all EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries to take time to familiarise themselves with the forthcoming impacts to practice arising from the 2011 Falsified Medicines Directive and ensure hospital pharmacy representation at the national level on the issue.

The Directive will bring about a new system in which all packages of medicine will be given a ‘unique identifier’ via a two-dimensional (2D) barcode on the outer packaging. This will be placed on the packaging at the manufacturing level, and the serialisation code then ‘checked in’ to a repository marking the package as legitimate. Importantly for hospital pharmacy, this code must then be ‘checked out’ at the end of the supply chain, before the medicine is dispensed or administered to patients. This scan both assures the pharmacist that the product is not counterfeit, while the ‘check out’ ensures the 2D barcode can not be reused by counterfeiters. In practice, this means the hospital pharmacy will need to oversee scan checkouts of every package of medicine entering the hospital. The deadline for implementation will be a date in 2019.

As reported in the August 2015 edition of the EAHP EU Monitor, the European Commission has now published a ‘Delegated Act’ on how these scan verification processes should operate. The Delegated Act is a binding regulation that all EU Member State and EEA countries must comply with, or face potential penalties and proceedings from the Commission.

The Delegated Act makes clear that the hospital sector is expected to conduct verification checks of medicines, alongside colleagues in community pharmacy. However, flexibility is provided as to ‘when’ the hospital chooses to conduct the required scanning. For example, the hospital may determine to conduct the scanning at first entry, shortly prior to departure of the medicine from the dispensary to the ward, elsewhere, or at a combination of points depending on the product.

2016 will be an important year at a national level, with the overall systems of verification being constructed via “national medicines verification organisations.” In her letter to members, EAHP President Joan Peppard encouraged hospital pharmacists to ensure their voice is heard within these developments.

EAHP past President Roberto Frontini receives international award for patient safety efforts

The European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) has extended its warmest congratulations to its past President Dr Roberto Frontini on receiving the prestigious Donald E. Francke Medal at the annual Mid Year Clinical meeting of the American Society of Health System Pharmacists. The award was presented in honour of his international efforts to promote medication safety and improve patient outcomes.

Dr Frontini, Director of Pharmacy at the University Hospital of Leipzig in Germany, served as President of EAHP from 2009 to 2015 in which time he oversaw numerous important international initiatives aimed at improving patient safety and outcomes through further leverage of the hospital pharmacy skillset within European health systems. Such initiatives included the 2014 European Summit on Hospital Pharmacy that brought together leaders of hospital pharmacy, patient organisations and other healthcare professional associations from around the world. The Summit concluded by agreeing 44 ‘European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy’, which together set out a compelling vision for the profession to achieve, shared by the colleagues pharmacists work with, and the patients they serve.

On receiving the award, Dr Frontini reminded the audience that even in an age of unprecedented technological development, human leadership is still required to bring desired visions of the future into reality. Such leadership requires developing an immunity to the attractions of power accumulation, accepting but not being discouraged by the barriers to progress that can be presented, and placing trust in others to help deliver a vision. “The real judge of leadership in pharmacy is the level of benefit we achieve for our patients… Leadership is not accumulation of power and expression of vanity—it is responsibility.” Dr Frontini advised.

Extending congratulations on behalf of EAHP and its national member associations, EAHP President Joan Peppard said: “In his time as EAHP President Roberto managed to create a lasting legacy in so many areas of our activity. This is evident especially in his clarification of the EAHP professional development mission through the European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy. This award is an important public recognition of the international impact made by his constant dedication to the patient centred mission of the hospital pharmacist. We owe much to him, and are delighted by this international acknowledgement.”