Contents: A Few Words 1 ESCP Life 2 Articles & Reports 6 Announcements 12 1 E u r o p e a n S o c i e t y o f C l i n i c a l P h a r m a c y A Few Words The overall aim of the Society is to develop and promote the rational and appropriate use of medicines by the individual and by society. ESCP News • September 2006 • Number 132 • ISSN 1353-0321 The bi-monthly newsletter of the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy Vilnius: a Baltic Experience with Perspective G ert Laekeman, ESCP Vice President, reports on the Spring Conference held last May in Vilnius, and shares his feelings on Lithuania’s future development. Arriving in Vilnius made a good feeling. From the pretty small airport a modern taxi brought us within 20 minutes to the lively city centre. Large, partly car-free streets, green areas, stylish buildings and an impressive amount of churches, catholic and orthodox: this was what we got as a first impression. The Reval hotel Lietuva with a sky bar on the 24 th floor guaranteed a professional congress environment. The theme of the 6 th Spring Conference on Clinical Pharmacy: “Chronic Disease Management: the Role of the Pharmacist” left us with a challenge. Committed partners Eduardas Tarasevicius and Romaldas Maciulaitis were the Conference President and the Scientific Committee Chair respectively. Romaldas is a pharmacist and a medical doctor with a specialty in nephrology, but as he stated, he is a clinical pharmacist in the first instance. From the first informal evening in Belmontas until the closing ceremony, they revealed to be perfect partners in organisation. Variety of themes Hypertension, cardiovascular dis- eases in general, prescribing by pharmacists in this field and infectious diseases such as tubercu- losis and HIV, were the main topics of the plenary lectures. These scientific subjects were well elaborated. A possible role of the clinical pharmacist in the support care of chronic patients was repeatedly illustrated with examples. Pharmacists in the UK and the USA are allowed to prescribe between well-defined limits and to run ambulatory care units. It was demon- strated in Turkey that, when patients suffering from tuberculosis received pharmacist directed practical drug-related education, their adherence to therapy was superior as compared to those receiving routine care. In France, pharmacists are engaged in teaching HIV-patients about daily management of the disease. Wide choice of sessions During the conference, workshops were repeated to enable an optimal attendance. The workshops dealt with compliance and concordance, medication reviews, lipid profile management, formulating good research questions, interdisciplinary contacts between health professionals and caring for asthma, HIV and osteoporosis patients. The pharmacotherapeutic updates were highly appreciated. The afternoon plenary lectures were devoted to paediatrics. It was nice to see pharmacists perform in this field of highly specialised pathology and pharmacotherapy. During the anonymous refereeing procedure, 153 abstracts were “Lithuania is, together with Estonia and Latvia, one of the newest members in the EMEA Commission based in London. They have their voice in the European Medicines Policy. Since the 6th Spring Conference in Vilnius their voice is also being heard throughout ESCP!” CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 ➤
Transcript
Contents: A Few Words 1ESCP Life 2Articles & Reports 6Announcements 12
1E u r o p e a n S o c i e t y o f C l i n i c a l P h a r m a c y
A Fe
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The overall aim of the Society is to develop and promote the rational and appropriate use of medicines by the individual and by society.
ESCP
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The bi-monthly newsletterof the European Society
of Clinical Pharmacy
Vilnius: a Baltic Experiencewith Perspective
Gert Laekeman, ESCP Vice President, reports on the Spring Conference
held last May in Vilnius, andshares his feelings on Lithuania’s future development.
Arriving in Vilnius made a good feeling. From the pretty small airporta modern taxi brought us within 20minutes to the lively city centre.Large, partly car-free streets, greenareas, stylish buildings and animpressive amount of churches,catholic and orthodox: this was whatwe got as a first impression.
The Reval hotel Lietuva with a skybar on the 24th floor guaranteed a professional congress environment.The theme of the 6th SpringConference on Clinical Pharmacy:“Chronic Disease Management: theRole of the Pharmacist” left us witha challenge.
Committed partnersEduardas Tarasevicius and RomaldasMaciulaitis were the ConferencePresident and the ScientificCommittee Chair respectively.Romaldas is a pharmacist and amedical doctor with a specialty innephrology, but as he stated, he is aclinical pharmacist in the firstinstance. From the first informal evening in Belmontas untilthe closing ceremony, they revealedto be perfect partners in organisation.
Variety of themesHypertension, cardiovascular dis-eases in general, prescribing by pharmacists in this field and infectious diseases such as tubercu-losis and HIV, were the main topics ofthe plenary lectures. These scientificsubjects were well elaborated. A possible role of the clinical pharmacist in the support care of chronic patients was repeatedly illustrated with examples.
Pharmacists in the UK and the USAare allowed to prescribe betweenwell-defined limits and to run ambulatory care units. It was demon-strated in Turkey that, when patientssuffering from tuberculosis receivedpharmacist directed practical drug-related education, their adherence to therapy was superior ascompared to those receiving routinecare. In France, pharmacists areengaged in teaching HIV-patientsabout daily management of the disease.
Wide choice of sessionsDuring the conference, workshopswere repeated to enable an optimalattendance. The workshops dealtwith compliance and concordance,medication reviews, lipid profilemanagement, formulating goodresearch questions, interdisciplinarycontacts between health professionals and caring for asthma,HIV and osteoporosis patients.
The pharmacotherapeutic updateswere highly appreciated.
The afternoon plenary lectures weredevoted to paediatrics. It was nice tosee pharmacists perform in this fieldof highly specialised pathology andpharmacotherapy.
During the anonymous refereeing procedure, 153 abstracts were
“Lithuania is, together withEstonia and Latvia, one ofthe newest members in theEMEA Commission based in
London. They have theirvoice in the European
Medicines Policy. Since the6th Spring Conference inVilnius their voice is also
being heard throughout ESCP!”
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ESCP Welcomes New Members
AustraliaViolet FordJennifer Marriott
AustriaWalter JaegerAlice Poier
BelgiumStéphanie ArmanFrançoise BiotPieter-Jan CortoosFrancis EvenepoelMarijke FostierVanessa GalandSteven SimoensJens Van Krieken
Bosnia & HerzegovinaAlija Uzunovic
CanadaJean-François GuevinJohn HawboldtChum Van Duong
158 new members from 38 countries have joined ESCP in the last year. They join ESCP’s global community of members from 57 countries. The majority (89%) are located in Europe. Of these, 19% isrepresented by members from the new EU member states. The rest come from 11 countries across NorthAmerica, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
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Meeting Pharmacists from Turkey and Croatia
E SCP News met with two pharmacists from Turkey and Croatia who attended the 6th ESCPSpring Conference and satisfied the criteria to benefit from ESCP’s financial support to partcipate in the conference.
Aylin Acar(Turkey)Aylin is a pharmacist who has veryrecently joined the PharmaceuticalCare Unit at Marmara University.Aylin will be participating in clinicalpharmacy projects run by the unit incollaboration with the medical faculty. Previously, Aylin was aresearch assistant at HacettepeUniversity in Ankara and read for aMasters in Pharmacy Management.Aylin is married to Mesut Sancar, apharmacist from Marmara Universitywho regularly attends ESCP’s meetings. Both Aylin and Mesut arevery active in the Turkish Society ofClinical Pharmacy.
During the conference Aylin presented a poster on the use of vancomycin and teicoplanin in aTurkish University Hospital.
The poster was co-authored withSelen Yegenoglu, Nimet Simsek, andSerhat Unal from HacettepeUniversity and with Maarten J.Postma from Groningen University,The Netherlands. The aim of thestudy was to perform a cost-analysisof the use of vancomycin andteicoplanin in the treatment of
gram-positive infections at theInternal Medicine Clinic of HacettepeUniversity Hospital. The average therapy costs per patient were US$1,481 for teicoplanin and US$1,295 for vancomycin. Statisticalanalysis showed that there is no significant difference between costsfor treatment with either drug.However more adverse reactions wereobserved with vancomycin andteicoplanin requires less nursing timefor drug administration since it is administered once a day.
The authors conclude that prescribers opt for vancomycinbecause they think it is cheaper.Information sessions for prescribersand health professionals atHacettepe University Hospital on theuse of teicoplanin are now planned.
Vesna Rosovic-Bazijanac(Croatia)Vesna has been a member of ESCPfor the past six years and she hasbeen participating regularly inESCP’s conferences. She currentlypractices in a paediatric hospital andfor this reason she attends SIG paediatrics sessions which she findsvery interesting.
Vesna graduated from ZagrebUniveristy of Pharmacy andBiochemistry and has practiced atthe University Hospital Centre for 33 years. The hospital has threelocalities, one of which is dedicatedto paediatrics. Vesna is the director ofthe pharmacy in the paediatric centrein Rijeka which consists of 120 beds.She is also a member of the Drug andTherapeutics Committee. The mainactivities in the pharmacy are dispensing for in-patient use and
extemporaneous preparations. Sheparticipates in discussions on pharmacotherapy with prescribers.However since she is the only pharmacist in her centre she feelsshe needs more support to be able toestablish clinical pharmacy services.
Vesna presented a poster on the prescribing trends of drugs acting onthe central nervous system at the
University Hospital Centre of Rijeka.The aim of the study was to detectthe most frequently prescribed drugsfrom the ATC-N group over a four-yearperiod and to assess the financialimplications. The most frequentlyprescribed drug was diazepam with aconsumption of 25 Daily DefinedDoses per 100 bed-days. Commonlyprescribed drugs that contributed tothe highest drug costs were fentanyl,fluphenazine and tramadol. Thisstudy has provided the required datato identify areas where prescribingtrends could be improved. Guidelineson the use of benzodiazepines andanalgesics are being reviewed andinformation sessions for health professionals are presented. ●
Aylin Acar (right) with Lilian Azzopardiand a conference participant
Vesna Rosovic-Bazijanac and LilianAzzopardi at the ESCP desk
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Jiri Vlcek, ESCP President,remembers Rene Mach, anestablished and esteemed
professional, a colleague, a friend.
The Czech clinical pharmacy community has lost a very good specialist in clinical pharmacy. On13 July 2006 pharmacist Dr ReneMach died on the Alps at LesDroites (4,000 metres high) atthe young age of 39 years.
Rene participated in a number ofESCP’s symposia and was a memberof the Organising Committee of thePrague meeting held in 2004. In theCzech Republic Rene was the ownerof three pharmacies and managedmore than 50 employees. He hadvery good relations with other healthprofessionals in the city of Breclav(Moravia, Czech Republic). His firstpharmacy was close to the Hospitaland Information System (HIS), wherehe served as a hospital pharmacyconsultant. This HIS system is available in the Czech Republic andincludes structured informationabout prescribed drugs to individualpatients, diagnosis and results of clinical tests.
Clinical pharmacydevelopmentRene tried to develop clinical pharmacy in his pharmacies. Hedemonstrated how clinical pharmacy can be practiced in thecommunity pharmacy as well as inthe hospital setting, and that sometimes it is more important inthe community setting becausepatients with chronic diseases - and therefore at higher risks - visitregularly the community pharmacy.Rene established a section in thepharmacy where the pharmacist cancounsel the patient in privacy.During such a session the pharmacist can discuss with thepatient the pharmacotherapy and provide information on how to reduce risk from therapy.
Rene started to co-operate with apharmacy Software Company todevelop drug information programmesand presented the first software in theCzech Republic which gives a warningabout potential drug interactionsduring dispensing. This programmebecame available in about one third ofthe Czech pharmacies.
Seminars across CzechRepublicSeveral years ago he started to trainactively his team. We organisedtogether regular monthly seminars,sometimes also with the participa-tion of other health professionals,where we discussed cases. We made available this kind of case discussions to the whole republicthrough the support of thePharmaceutical Chamber. We organised lectures for different areasof the Czech Republic and started totrain colleagues regularly in different districts. I believe this isonly one way how to improve theability of pharmacists to participatein the management of pharmacotherapy. During theseseminars Rene participated veryactively by preparing the cases fordiscussion. He was capable to identify problems in pharmacotherapyand to suggest improvements. Rene was unique from this perspective. Two years ago, Renethen extrapolated this idea to organise similar seminars directedtowards pharmacy technicians.
We wanted to develop a Centre ofPharmaceutical Care in Rene’s pharmacy. He accepted a lot of students and showed them good pharmaceutical care practice andinvolved them in hospital ward visits. He read for a PhD in clinical pharmacy and has a paper for reviewin the journal Pharmacy World &Science (PWS) on the “Impact of amultidisciplinary approach on antibiotic consumption, cost andmicrobial resistance in a general hospital in the Czech Republic – therole of hospital pharmacist”.
Rene knew that documentation isnecessary, and so he started to develop electronic patient records inco-operation with a software company. In co-operation with thefaculty of pharmacy he participatedin PhD programmes aiming atenhancing the applicability intopractice of the projects.
Wine harvest of clinical pharmacyRene served as a scientific secretaryand for 7 years as president of the so called “Wine harvest of clinical pharmacy”, an event that attracts anaverage of 250 delegates every year.We have chosen the title “Wine harvest of clinical pharmacy” for thisactivity because it is hold in the areaof Moravia where wine is producedand where Rene’s pharmacies are located. The title “Wine harvest” isused to describe results of clinicalpharmacy projects of the year before.
An example of commitmentRene was a pillar of clinical pharma-cy in the Czech Republic though hewas not doing it for himself but forhis patients. He believed that inhospital and even in community settings, pharmacists together withtheir team provide patients with aprofessional service. However for thisservice pharmacies need to be regularly maintained and particularlypromote an area of privacy and thepharmacy team needs to take upregular professional updates.
We need pharmacists like Rene in thewhole of Europe. We need this kind of
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In Memoriam: an Appreciation of Rene Mach
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AGeneral Committee member ends her term ofoffice at the Society's
General Assembly in October inVienna. ESCP News introducesher successor.
ESCP is pleased to announce theelection of Mr Martin Schulz fromGermany to the General Committee.He will assume the position vacatedby Mrs. Hannelore Kreckel.
ESCP is indebted to the hard work ofHannelore Kreckel, who served as
German representative on the GCfrom 2000 to 2006. Hannelore hasdone a tremendous job over the pastyears in service to the Society and tothe profession of Clinical Pharmacy.We thank her for her time and commitment. ●
approved as posters, short communi-cations during poster discussionforums and oral communication sessions. Submissions from Frenchdelegates were the most prominent,followed by the Spanish and theBelgian ones.
The Spring Conference in Vilnius gota familiar taste with folk music anddance during the opening reception.Enthusiastic clinical pharmacistseven practised medieval dances during the conference party at TrakaiCastle where knights fought battlesand fire-acrobats closed the evening.
An evolving cityVilnius is preparing itself as a futurecultural capital of Europe. New pave-ments are replacing anonymous con-crete. Terraces are inviting touristswith affordable meals and drinks. Inthe cellars of the former KGB, nowredone as a museum, the town hidesthe remains of a totalitarian regime.There is still quite a generation knowing what it means to live in acountry where freedom of speech andthinking was virtually absent for morethan 45 years. But in the impressiveopera house, children are performing
in a marvellous song contest: youngvoices in a rapidly evolving country.Lithuania is, together with Estoniaand Latvia, one of the newest mem-bers in the EMEA Commission basedin London. They have their voice inthe European Medicines Policy. Sincethe 6th Spring Conference in Vilniustheir voice is also being heardthroughout ESCP! ●
Gert LaekemanESCP Vice President
Election Results ESCP General Committee2006 - 2010
As every other year, ESCPis getting ready for change and welcoming
its new leaders.
During the General Assembly at theVienna Symposium, ESCP will officially introduce Gert Laekemanfrom Belgium as the new ESCPPresident. For the past years, Gert
has proven an invaluable asset to theSociety in all the initiatives he wasinvolved in and ESCP looks forwardto his contributions to the Society’s development.
ESCP wishes all the best to Gert inhis new role, and warmly thanks JiriVlcek for his dedication to drive theSociety forward all through his presidency.
Jiri will stay part of the General andExecutive Committees as immediatePast President for one more year.
Lastly, the General Committee announces that Frank Jørgensen fromNorway will be appointed VicePresident at the General Assembly inVienna, succeeding Gert in this crucial role. ESCP wishes Frank wellin his new role. ●
leaders but there is always a lack ofsuch people who are able to movepharmacy services forward towardsclinical pharmacy. Rene showed usthat it is possible to develop pharma-ceutical care in a difficult situation ofa changing society.
His death is a big loss to Czech andEuropean clinical pharmacy. I was luckythat I was a friend of his and that weworked together for pharmacy.We need to look for these people –only together we are able to launchESCP’s ideas. Thank you, Rene. ●
Jiri VlcekESCP President
Chair of the Section of ClinicalPharmacy of the Pharmaceutical
Society of Medical Association JEPCzech Republic
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Vienna, capital city ofAustria and world’s capital of music, will
host the forthcoming ESCPSymposium: an overview ofwhat to expect from the programme.
The 35th ESCP European Symposiumon Clinical Pharmacy on “The Role ofCommunication in Patient Safety andPharmacotherapy Effectiveness”promises to be an excellent platformfor international exchange, havingclinical pharmacists from Philippines,Saudi Arabia, Canada and manyEuropean countries already registeredto attend it.
Expanding on key themes such as thecommunication with the patient, theimpact of patient information onpharmacotherapy outcomes, and therole of the pharmacist in communica-tion in regard to patient safety, thisforthcoming Symposium representsan exciting opportunity to enhancecommunication skills, by learningfrom experts and sharing experienceswith peers, during 3 intensive daysfeaturing a variety of plenary lectures,interactive workshops, and pharmacotherapy update lectures.
An original evening plenary lecturewill open the dancing on Wednesday,18 October: the CommunicationsCabaret held by Jenny Simanowitz
will certainly involve participants.This theatrical mirror of the everydaylife aims at raising attendees’ aware-ness about unspoken messages,unconscious perceptions and bodylanguage.
From Thursday to Saturday three plenary lectures, one pharmacothera-py update lecture and a number ofworkshops and SIG workshops willrun daily.
Interactive scientificprogrammeEach day the morning’s plenary lectures elaborate on the theme ofthe day and are followed by a paneldiscussion on the topics raised. Alldelegates are invited to participateactively in these open discussions.
The afternoon plenary lectures,organised by the SIG Paediatrics andthe SIG Cancer Care, are formatted toencourage audience’s participation.In particular, the afternoon plenarylecture on Thursday will explore theproblems related to paediatric medicines information leaflets, dedicating some time to the practicalside of putting together informationleaflets. The afternoon plenary lecture on Friday, will tackle paedi-atric oncology issues, aiming at showinghow the specialist clinical paediatriconcology pharmacist contributes tothe care of a child with cancer.
The series of pharmacotherapy lectures will present the results oftwo ESCP research projects, managed by members of theResearch Committee, on antimy-cotics “Severe Fungal InfectionsManagement and Patients’ Outcome”and on cox-2 inhibitors “Eurocox”.
A wide selection of workshops andSIG workshops completes the scientific programme of this fallSymposium. Cost and effectivenessof innovative products; How to writefor a peer reviewed journal;Pharmacist’s role in chemotherapyeducation; Communication tools topromote concordance and compliance with pharmacotherapy…These are only some of the manyworkshops offered.
More informationTo view the complete scientific programme and select the sessionsyou wish to attend, we invite you tovisit the Symposium website(www.escpweb.org/vienna). As is custom, to help delegates to betterprepare for discussions, invitedspeakers’ presentations will be posted on the website in advance ofthe meeting.
Besides the scientific sessions, theprogramme also features poster viewing sessions at lunch time andafter the afternoon sessions. A totalamount of 365 abstracts from
The Role of Communication on the Danube
Pharmaceutical Care 118 32.33
Pharmacotherapy 72 19.73
Drug Information 43 11.78
Pharmacoepidemiology and Public Health 42 11.51
Education in Clinical Pharmacy 37 10.14
Clinical Pharmacokinetics 22 6.03
Pharmacoeconomics 21 5.75
Nutritional Support and Intravenous Therapy 10 2.74
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Abstracts Submitted No %
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34 countries were submitted. Thisrepresents an increase of 22% as tothe total of abstracts submitted forlast year’s Symposium in Amsterdam.
Informal networkingThe city where many famous composers have lived will also provide the perfect background forthe social programme of theSymposium.
On Wednesday evening the welcomereception will take place in Vienna’scity hall, one of the most splendidmonumental buildings in the city. On Thursday a very special culturalevening is foreseen at the “Haus derMusik”: participants will experiencefirsthand with all of their senses theold language of music, by for example conducting the ViennaPhilharmonic orchestra from a virtualconductor’s podium, or journeyingback in time to meet the great
composers of the past. On Friday participants will be offered the opportunity to meet informally in aHeuriger, or wine tavern, a uniquely Viennese institution whereto enjoy local gastronomy.
Gothic and Habsburg empire buildings, museums, cosy coffeebars… While in Vienna for theSymposium, don’t miss the opportunity to visit all what this cityon the Danube has to offer. Withmany exhibitions and festivals withinthe celebration of the 250th
anniversary of Mozart’s birth, Viennawill be more charming than ever. Formore information on Vienna visit thetourism office website at:http://info.wien.at
Register before 6 October at
and save € 100 !
Thursday, 19 October• “I Just Can’t Tell You the Way it
Hurts”. Some Implications of (Mis-)Communication in the Expert-Client Relationship in the Health ProfessionsFlorian Menz, Austria
• Written Information: Considering Patients as Critical ThinkersGiulio Formoso, Italy
• SIG Paediatrics - Paediatric Medicines Information Leaflets
Steve Tomlin, UKTheo Raynor, UKAnnic Weyersberg, UK
Friday, 20 October• Patients’ Perspectives of
Medicines and Pharmacy: Implication for CommunicationRob Horne, UK
• Health Behaviours, Drug Information and PharmacotherapyVeerle Foulon, Belgium
• Patient Counselling: a Multidisciplinary Approach to Improving Pharmacotherapy Outcomes
Roland Radziwill, Germany
• SIG Paediatrics & SIG Cancer Care – Paediatric Oncology
Judith Delaney, UKSara Arenas-Lopez, UKJean-Baptiste Rey, France
Saturday, 21 October• Clinical Risk Management of
Transplant Patients through Communication with PatientsPiera Polidori, Italy
• EMEA Communication and Transparency Policy: Framework and Current Practices with Focuson PharmacovigilancePriya Bahri, UK
• Apo.K – the Drug Safety Belt: a Pharmaceutical Care Model Put to Work in Austrian Community Pharmacies
Christian Wurstbauer, Austria
Plenary Lectures Overview
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1. OpeningThe President Jiri Vlcek welcomed allattendees and opened the 27th ESCPGeneral Assembly.
2. Report General AssemblyPrague, Czech Republic, 2004The General Assembly approved thereport of the 26th General Assembly.
3. Annual report of thePresidentThe President announced that allRESP committees have completed anumber of very important tasks forthe Society, showing that the structure in place is very muchencouraging new activities and bestpractices. In regards with congresses,the fall symposium in Prague and thespring conference in Stockholm were successful both from the point ofview of the number of attendees aswell as for scientific content. On topof that, the ESCP membership issolid with an upward trend.
4. Approval of revisedconstitution of ESCPLast year, the GC and EC started thereviewing process of the ESCPStatutes. The Presidents reports thatthe changes correspond to the evolu-tion of ESCP over the years.
The General Assembly voted on therevised constitution:- 20 members were in favour- 7 members abstainedThe revised ESCP Constitution istherefore considered approved.
5. Annual report of theExecutive DirectorJeroen van Liempd, who was recentlyappointed as Executive Director succeeding Bruce Roudebush, reported that the General Committeeis also currently developing a 3 to 5years strategic plan that will outlinethe Society’s priorities and goals forthe future. In line with this newobjective, the RESP committee arealso looking into identifying their priorities for the coming years.
6. Annual report of theTreasurerFinal account 2004: report approved
Budget 2005: report of half-year results approved
Budget 2006: budget presented andvoted- 22 members were in favour- 5 members abstainedThe Budget 2006 is therefore considered approved.
7. Annual report of the RESPFrancesca Venturini, Chair of theRESP, reported on RESP activities.Research Committee: The ResearchCommittee managed two Pan-European research projects, oneon “Severe Fungal Infections’ Management and Patients’ Outcome inHospitalised Patients”, and the otheron COX-2 Inhibitors and was conductedin collaboration with CommunityPharmacists. Preliminary results werepresented during the 1st Fair ofPharmaceutical Science organised byEUFEPS, which was held in June inNice, France.
Education Committee: For the lastcouple of years, the committee hasbeen working on improving the formatof ESCP congresses, in order to adaptit to the increasing number of participants and to the wishes andexpectations of the scientific community. In addition, the committeeis also looking into providing continuing education credit points forattending ESCP conferences and symposia to more European countries,and is also exploring a project to setup an interactive system of educationon the web.
Publication Committee: Over the lastyear, the Publication Committee reviewed and improved the abstract submission process, and both thePrague symposium and theStockholm conference saw a steepincrease in the number of abstractssubmitted. It was also reported thatthe impact factor of PWS is rising,and was at 0.854 for 2004.
SIG Council: SIGs are the backbone ofthe Society; the conference workshopsand the education course are organised under the SIGs’ umbrella. In2005, the SIG Geriatrics has been revitalised with the arrival of a new SIGleader from Canada: Louise Mallet.
These specific activities are takingplace in the frame of the strategic
development of ESCP, as encouragedby the General Committee.
The RESP Chair announced theappointment of a new chair of thePublication Committee, succeedingMarie Caroline Husson: Foppe van Mil.
8. Discharge and appointmentof GC and EC membersThe President thanked the outgoingmembers of the General Committee,Jacqueline Grassin and ElisabethGrimm Baettig, and welcomed newmembers to the General committee:Marie-Caroline Husson, representingFrance, and Johnny Beney, represen-ting Switzerland.
Erik Gerbrands was also introduced asthe new ESCP Treasurer.
9. Future CongressesThe Vice President Gert Laekemanpresented the upcoming ESCPConferences and Symposia.The 6th Spring Conference of 2006will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania andwill focus on “Chronic DiseaseManagement: The Role of thePharmacist”. The Conference willcomprise the support not only ofLithuania, but also Estonia, Latviaand other countries in close proximity,that will make it a truly Baltic meeting.
The 35th ESCP Symposium on ClinicalPharmacy will be held in Vienna,Austria and the theme will be “TheRole of Communication in PatientSafety and PharmacotherapyEffectiveness”.
As we look towards 2007, we will takeESCP Spring Conference to Scotland,to beautiful Edinburgh, and theSymposium will probably be held inGreece. The spring conference in2008 should be held in Belgium, andthe fall symposium in Italy. Then, in2009 a joint meeting with ACCP willbe taking place in the US.
10. Date and venue for the nextGeneral Assembly meetingThe President announces that the 28th
General Assembly will take place inVienna, Austria, on Friday, 20th
October 2006 at the Austria CentreVienna. ●
Report of the 27th ESCP General AssemblyAmsterdam, The Netherlands, 28 October 2005
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The General Committee ispleased to announce thekey developments and
achievements within theSociety since the last GeneralAssembly in Amsterdam,October 2005.
The 2005-2006 has been a period ofconsolidation: the Society built onthe experience cumulated in theantecedent years to move forwarddifferent projects. In its continuousefforts to promote clinical pharmacy,ESCP strived to look for collaborations with other organisa-tions, following up on the work startedduring the presidency of Chiel Heksterand Jacqueline Grassin.
All RESP Committees have done atremendous work trying to improveprocesses and contributing to ESCP'sscientific health through strategicthinking, renewed involvement in theConferences and Symposia scientificprogrammes.
The relationship with the associationmanagement company, which isadministrating our InternationalOffice in Brussels, proved to be fruitful and led to the improvementand the optimisation of the dailyadministrative tasks, allowing ourvolunteers to dedicate more time tothe Society and its scopes.
ResearchTwo ESCP research projects, managed by members of theResearch Committee on antimycotics“Severe Fungal InfectionsManagement and Patients’Outcome” and on cox-2 inhibitors“Eurocox” are now finalised and theresults are being presented in theupcoming Symposium in Vienna asPharmacotherapy Updates on thethree days.
Strategic partnershipsThe GC recognised the need to communicate with related organisationsto look for partners and build strategic alliances, with the aim to
support clinical pharmacy as a specialisation in European faculties,accommodating clinical pharmacy intraining programmes of pharmaceuti-cal care by community pharmacies,and offering our training programmesfor postgraduates and continuouseducation to different pharmaceuticalchambers and associations.Partnerships and connections havesuccessfully been continued or startedwith EPSA, ACCP, EUFEPS, ASHP,PGEU, EAHP and other prominentinternational organisations.
The discussions with the leaders ofthese associations will continue inthe coming months and years, assome concrete projects are currentlyunder development: the developmentof standards for clinical pharmacyservices in the hospital setting in collaboration with EAHP; theimprovement of pharmaceutical carein community pharmacies withPGEU; the organisation of the nextjoint Congess in 2009 with ACCP,and many more.
ESCP also chose to continue sup-porting EPSA students, as we believeit is important to raise awarenessabout the importance of clinicalpharmacy within the young pharmacycommunity.
Education and meetingsBoth the Symposium in Amsterdamand the Spring Conference in Vilniuswere successful from many points ofview: the scientific programme andthe overall setting resulted to be highlyappreciated by attendees. The number and the variety of participantsin Vilnius exceeded our expectations:more than 600 delegates gathered inLithuania’s capital from 35 differentcountries, ranging from the BalticStates to Australia, Canada, Israel…making this conference a moment ofreal international exchange.
It however needs to be mentioned thatalthough these 2 meetings were indeedhighly successful from a scientific,educational and networking point ofview, the net revenue they generated forthe Society was quite limited.
We are now working on the prepara-tion of the Spring Conference 2007,to be held in Edinburgh, UK, andstriving to put in place an inspiringprogramme for the next EuropeanSymposium, to be held in Istanbul,Turkey in the fall of 2007.
In addition to our yearly meetings,this summer we organised anEducational Course on Patient-Centred Teaching in Malta. Theenthusiasm expressed by the participants is encouraging and weare looking forward to organisingmore ESCP Educational Courses allover Europe.
Some of our members took part, asinvited speakers, in different meetings in the Middle East, such asthe DUPHAT Congress in Dubai andthe International PharmaceuticalCongress in Kuwait, exporting our“know-how” to other countries. As aresult we saw more colleagues fromthese regions participating in ourmeetings and training programmes.
MembershipOur membership figures continue tobe stable as to last year in the sameperiod. Our members come from 57different countries across the world,the majority being located in Europe,and have diverse backgrounds (hospital pharmacy, community pharmacy, universities, research centres…). This being said, ourrecords show that the vast majority ofthe members seems however to beworking in the hospital setting.
We believe that the focus on clinicalpharmacy, which represents theuniqueness of and characterises thechoices of our Society, is a key factorthat will attract new individuals andhelp our membership progress.
The renewed affiliation to PharmacyWorld & Science (PWS) led to the
ESCP General Commitee Annual Report2005 - 2006
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ESCP Course in Patient-Centred Teaching
ESCP Course in Patient-Centred Teaching: Focuson the Patient with
Rheumatoid Arthritis.
The course, held in collaboration withthe University of Malta and Universityof Strathclyde, UK from 19 to 21 Julyin Malta, intended to demonstrate thepractice and teaching of patient-basedskills in clinical pharmacy in thecontext of the delivery of pharmaceutical care to patients withrheumatoid arthritis (RA). The care ofpatients with rheumatoid arthritis wasused to illustrate a structuredapproach to identifying and resolvingdrug therapy problems in the clinic orcommunity pharmacy. The pharma-cists approach to the patient was alsodeveloped as an approach to teaching. Pharmaceutical care plansand quality of life questionnaires wereused as clinical, teaching andresearch tools in the patient interview.
The course used practical work led bypharmacists experienced in pharma-ceutical care and with rheumatoidarthritis patients in ‘real-world’ clinical settings.
Tutors and settingThe course drew on patients in therheumatology clinic and on the wardsof St Luke’s General Hospital,G’Mangia in Malta with the participa-tion of a local team of practice tutorsand physicians (led by ProfessorCarmel Mallia and the nurse practitioner Doris Aquilina).Pharmacy tutors were CaroleCallaghan and Lorraine Perry fromEdinburgh and Glasgow, who areexperienced clinical pharmacists inrheumatology. Marise Gauci, a leading clinical pharmacy teacherpractitioner in Malta provided clinicalsupervision. Louise Azzopardi, theclinical pharmacist member of theRheumatology Clinical Team in Maltacontributed a presentation on herresearch using Quality of Life measures. Professor Sam Salek(Cardiff University) is a pharmacisthealth economist who contributed apresentation on Quality of Life measures. Professor Steve Hudson(Professor of Pharmaceutical Care,
University of Strathclyde) was the co-ordinator of the three day programme.
Participants and objectivesThe fifteen participants in the coursewere from Greece, Slovenia, Belgium,Estonia and Malta, and mainly hadhospital pharmacy or a university setting background.
The course aimed to provide themwith ‘real world’ experience of astructured approach to developing a pharmaceutical care plan using a focus on assessment of clinical outcomes and care issues in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
By following this course they coulddevelop skills in preparation of clinical documentation of drug therapy problems, in conductingpatient interviews and in usingpatients as a teaching resource.According to their previous clinicalexperience they were assigned to roleplay ‘tutors’ or ‘learners’.
ConclusionThe course was successful in meeting its objectives. Highlights ofthe course were: the tremendousenthusiasm of the participants; thedemonstration of multidisciplinaryworking by pharmacists with nursepractitioners and rheumatologists;the use of systematic approaches toproducing care plans, assessingpatients using quality of life instru-ments and the structuring of tea-ching plans; the quality of contactwith patients for interviews whichlasted at least one hour. This waspossible by inviting patients in espe-cially for the course session. Thecourse was based on practical workand gave high quality clinical experience which was useful for general clinical skills developmentas well as skills specific to RA.
Through the organisation of coursesin patient-centred teaching, ESCPprovides an opportunity to help todevelop teacher-practitioners andpractitioner-researchers in clinicalpharmacy. The focus on a particulardisease was well received by the
participants although none wererheumatology specialists. The participants found the focus on a specific disease helped them applygeneral skills to a targeted group ofpatients. ●
Participants’ reportVesna Bizjak (Slovenia)As the role of clinical pharmacy isbecoming of great significance, classes and courses which extend ourknowledge in that direction are evenmore welcome than ever.
The course in patient centred teaching, organised by ESCP, wasvery interesting and important for pharmacists who have the role toguide students, for pharmacists onhow to approach the patient andpresent a case. However, in somehospitals the role of clinical pharma-cists is still not established eitherbecause of lack of pharmacists orbecause the doctors are not aware ofthe importance of clinical pharma-cists on wards. In future I would liketo have other opportunities to attendcourses, based on numerous practical clinical cases, co-operationwith ward medical doctors and theirinterpretation of specific cases.
Louise Azzopardi (Malta)It was very interesting to participate inthe ESCP course on patient-centredteaching. When about a year agoProfessor Hudson suggested to run thecourse focusing on rheumatoid arthritis which is my speciality, I wasoverwhelmed with interest and excitement. I had high hopes andexpectations that the course couldbring together enthusiastic health careprofessionals and patients workingtogether as a team. I am very pleasedthat the course met my expectationsand it was indeed an experience toparticipate in the ESCP course teamand to share experiences with pharmacists from different countries.
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1. Professor John Rizzo Naudi, Chancellor University of Malta, welcoming the course participants
2. Professor Carmel Mallia delivering an introductory lecture on Rheumatoid Arthritis
3. Participants working and discussing patient case notes in preparation for patient interview
4. Course tutors and participants
5. Irina Tegelj from Slovenia receiving the Course Certificate from Professor Godfrey LaFerla, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta
Jiri Vlcek, ESCP President,reviews his presidency period.
My presidency will come to an endthis coming October. I would like totake this opportunity to thank my colleagues and friends, and to lookback upon my involvement in theSociety in the past and during thepresidency period.
Before being elected as ESCPPresident in 2004, I assumed a number of positions within theSociety, firstly as a member of theREC (Research and EducationCommittee) from 1994 to 1998.Afterwards I was elected into theGeneral Committee (GC) representingthe so called “smaller countries”,countries with low membership. I alsoparticipated in the management ofvarious ESCP and non-ESCP interna-tional congresses. My involvement inthe Society’s activities allowed me torecognise the importance of interna-tional meetings in the development ofthe profession. Continuous trainings,knowledge and skills sharing, supportof research activities and presentationof particular papers, all this is neces-sary for the development of pharmacyworldwide. I recognised that ESCP, asthe only Society which really focuses on clinical pharmacy in Europe, is
strong and flexible enough to play akey role in the development of modern pharmaceutical care.
A creative teamIt was a nice experience to managethe incredibly creative team of the GCfor the past two years. I appreciatedthat each member of the GC strived to improve ESCP activities.Colleagues like Gert Laekeman,Johnny Beney, Frank Jørgensen, Pat Murray, Francesca Venturini,Mara Guerreiro, Erik Gerbrands,Hannelore Kreckel, Marie CarolineHusson and Maria Skouroliakoubrought a lot of different ideas. If national members do continueselecting representatives like theseones, I am not worried about thefuture development of ESCP.
It was not always easy to reach a consensus, but we did our best. One of my priorities has been to generate brainstorming sessions with the GC, to discuss and find newideas on how to advance clinical pharmacy.
I would like to thank all the GC members including Luis MariaMendarte for trying to overcome theirown language barriers, and to get overcultural differences.
GC compositionThe GC represented academicians,community and hospital pharmacistsbut no industrial pharmacists andpharmacist from regulator affairs. Wemay want to think about how to insurethe GC represent all sectors of activi-ty. We indeed ideally need to look foran optimal composition of the group,to facilitate advances in research projects, training courses and toincrease the political and socialawareness of clinical pharmacy. Inmany countries, the specialisation inclinical pharmacy does not allow to beofficially responsible for the pharma-covigilance agenda on a state level,for the interpretation of TDM, etc.Everywhere medical faculty graduators only are employed, thoughpharmacists with clinical pharmacyspecialisation should be equal to medical graduates, having in additiona deeper knowledge of drugs.
I wish the incoming President GertLaekeman, all the GC and RESP wellfor the future. I am confident that theywill be able to use ESCP to stimulatethe exchange of knowledge and skillsand to promote our professions throughour successful congresses and trainingprogrammes. ●
Jiri VlcekESCP President, 2004 - 2006
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enlargement of the range of benefitfor our members who now have fullaccess to the PWS online archive onthe ESCP web site www.escpweb.org.
What’s next?In an intention to facilitate the promotion of European research andthe exchange of information betweenpharmacists from different geographicand professional areas, an abstractsearch engine will be soon availableon the ESCP website. The goal is toinclude all the abstracts that werepresented at a recent ESCPConference or Symposium into alibrary, which will be accessible to allESCP members at www.escpweb.org.
As indicated above, a number ofgreat education and networking
opportunities are currently underpreparation: the Edinburgh SpringConference, the Istanbul FallSymposium, several Patient CentredTeaching Educational Courses andMaster Classes.
Some longer terms projects are cur-rently being discussed, such as anonline continuing education pro-gramme and possible changes in theESCP conference strategy.
The membership will of course bekept well informed on these possibledevelopments and changes.
In regards with the ESCP Leadership,some important changes will be taking effect at the ViennaSymposium, with Gert Laekeman(Belgium) taking over the presidency
for 2 years. Gert will be succeeded byFrank Jørgensen (Norway) in the VicePresident role.
We wish them well in their newresponsibilities!
The RESP landscape will also under-go some changes with a number ofnew members integrating the differ-ent Committees (SIG Council,Research, Education and PublicationCommittees) and bringing newexpertise and ideas into our scientificdiscussions. ●
Jiri VlcekESCP President, 2004 - 2006
Jeroen van LiempdESCP Executive Director
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ESCP Past-President Chiel Hekster,Nijmegen, The Netherlands, receivedon 21 June the Utrecht PharmacyPractice Award 2006 for the excellence in practice, education andresearch. Over the years, ChielHekster has been a constant driver ofinnovative developments in pharmacy
practice in the Netherlands, andbeyond. He has been a role model formany of us. During the AwardCeremony in Utrecht Hekster gave anexcellent and visionary address onthe current status and future ofClinical Pharmacy. A truly leader infield! ●
Bert LeufkensThe Netherlands
Utrecht Pharmacy Practice Award to Chiel Hekster
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ESCP News is published by ESCPEditor: Marie Caroline Husson (France)Co-ordinator: Lilian M. Azzopardi (Malta)Technical Editing, Design & Production: MCI
The contents of this publication are compiled in goodfaith. The publisher accepts no responsibility foromissions or errors.
ESCP International Office300, Avenue de TervuerenB-1150 Brussels - BelgiumTel: +32-2-743 1542 Fax : +32-2-743 1550E-mail: [email protected]
Deadline for the submission of material for issue number 134 is 4 January 2007.
For Your Diary2006
20-22 September Grenoble EFP - ESCP French Patient Centred Teaching CourseFrance
18-21 October Vienna 35th European Symposium on Clinical PharmacyAustria The Role of Communication in Patient Safety and
Pharmacotherapy Effectiveness
18 October Vienna Masterclass in Search of ExcellenceAustria Healthy Communication with Patients
18 October Vienna 8th EPSA-ESCP Students’ SymposiumAustria Patient Safety: a Task of the Pharmacy, a Step for the Student
2007
17-19 May Edinburgh 7th ESCP Spring Conference on Clinical PharmacyUK Tackling Inequalities in the Delivery of Pharmaceutical Care2
Important Reminders
35th European Symposium on Clinical Pharmacy, Vienna, AustriaLate Registration Saving up to € 100 Deadline: 6 October 2006
Further information is available at: www.escpweb.org
