The European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM) has released a webinar illustrating the content of Council of Europe Resolution CM/Res(2020)3 on the implementation of pharmaceutical care for the benefit of patients and health services, which aims to support member states interested in implementing pharmaceutical care in Europe. In line with the above resolution, adopted by the Committee of Ministers in March 2020, implementing pharmaceutical care has a role to play in medication use and the quality of care across Europe.
Martin Henman, Associate Professor at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, gave a webinar presentation, explaining that patient care is at the centre of the Council of Europe resolution. The latter emphasises the need for pharmaceutical care as a way of improving benefits and minimising risks associated with the use of medicines. The resolution not only lays out pharmacists’ role in the pharmaceutical care process, it also specifies how healthcare providers and policy makers in member states can support the implementation and promotion of pharmaceutical care in daily practice.
Henman stated that at the centre of the care process is the idea of collaborative process in which the healthcare professional puts their expertise at the service of the patient and acts in his or her best interest, in line with the fundamental right to good quality healthcare promoted by the Council of Europe.
Charlotte Verner Rossing, Director of Research and Professional Development at Pharmakon, the Danish College of Pharmacy Practice, gave an overview of the implementation of pharmaceutical care in community pharmacies in Denmark. She illustrated how the country successfully developed, evaluated and implemented its community pharmacy activities and how their strategy addressed different groups of patients. Verner Rossing provided a comprehensive explanation of how to develop a community pharmacy service, an overview of the pharmaceutical care services available in Denmark, the content of each service, the scientific rationale behind each service and how to use remuneration as an incentive.
The implementation of pharmaceutical care is known to help prevent inappropriate use of medicines, thus avoiding suboptimal medication outcomes and even potentially significant health damage for patients. The concept of pharmaceutical care encourages pharmacists to use their expertise to contribute to the appropriate use of medicines and health promotion, one essential aspect for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare systems.
The Council of Europe resolution provides national competent authorities, professional bodies and healthcare professionals across Europe with a set of recommendations and policy options for the implementation of pharmaceutical care at national level. The next steps for the EDQM and the European Committee on Pharmaceuticals and Pharmaceutical Care (CD-P-PH), but also for experts from hospital and community pharmacies, academics, and representatives of national competent authorities across Europe, will be to ensure implementation of the resolution to promote a rational and more efficient use of medicines for the benefit of European patients.
The full webinar is available for free from EDQM website.
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