Enquête européenne sur la pharmacie hospitalière: Perspective française de la pratique

Following the launch of the new European survey, we would like to encourage and disseminate the results of this survey in France. This article aims at presenting the main results of the European survey on hospital pharmacy conducted in February 2015 and the differences of practice between France and other European countries. Method: A questionnaire was designed by the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists to assess the implementation of the European Statements in each European country. French heads of hospital pharmacies were contacted directly by email and, in some cases, by phone by the French coordinators of the survey to clarify the objectives and the expected outcomes. The survey was conducted from the 2nd February 2015 to 27th February 2015. The respondents had to rate the occurrence of each practice in their departments. For each question, pharmacists were also asked about the barriers limiting the implantation of the practice. The implementation of each practice was compared to other European countries. Results: A total of 1094/5266 (18%) European heads of hospital pharmacies responded to the survey. In France, 152/1888 (8%) pharmacists have partially responded to the survey and 124/1888 (6.5%) completed the survey. At a national level and compared to European countries, from most to least developed: selection, procurement and distribution; patient safety and quality assurance; clinical pharmacy; introductory statements and governance; education and research; and finally production and compounding. By using free text, a significant number of French pharmacists commented on the barriers to implement clinical pharmacy (e.g. 114 (S4.4) and 84 (S4.5)), which suggests a major frustration related to their desire to develop such activities despite the current lack of human resources available. Conclusion: This is the first French synthetic view of the hospital pharmacy practice in Europe according to the European statements. The highlights of this European survey of hospital pharmacy allow a first comparative approach on the differences between French practice and other European practices.