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Updated global standards of practice for hospital pharmacists have been published by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), an organisation that represents more than three million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists around the world.
Known as the Basel Statements, the voluntary standards, first published in 2009, have been rewritten to make them easier to understand and be adopted by pharmacists in different countries.
“For many countries these standards are aspirational goals but the standards have been used as a basis for both the Royal Pharmaceutical Society professional standards for hospital pharmacy and the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists statements on hospital pharmacy,” says president of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists Vilma Gilis.
It is important that the standards are updated to reflect technological developments, Gilis says, adding that UK hospital pharmacists should be encompassing these standards already.
The latest set of 65 Basel statements includes, for the first time, standards devoted to the use of new technology in pharmacy, specifically access to electronic health records. It also takes into account FIP’s newly-agreed definition of “responsible use of medicines”.
Launching the standards on 10 September 2015, Lee Vermeulen, secretary of FIP’s Hospital Pharmacy Section, said: “One of the key strengths of the Basel Statements is the breadth of input that has been obtained, making the statements truly global and truly reflective of the ideal standards.”
The key aim of the Basel Statements is to “maximise the value that hospital pharmacists bring to the well-being of patients”, he said.
