Introduction

As part of the initiative to organise a Summit on the competencies of hospital pharmacists in Europe, the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) initiated a process to visualise the activities of hospital pharmacists in their own countries. A working group was formed to make an inventory of what was called ‘centres of excellence’. Soon the group realised that this was not only too ambitious, but it also could refrain people from submitting their work, so the initiative was called ‘good practice initiatives’ (GPIs). The working group sent out a call for submissions describing a GPI in their country. A GPI was described as any activity that highlighted the work of hospital pharmacists and that the authors would like to present to others. So this was not the most advanced automation or CPEO activity, but examples of nice new initiatives in their own country. The following was written in the programme book of the 19th congress of EAHP, held in Barcelona in March 2014:

“GPI's describe a new and exciting project that EAHP is undertaking this year, with the overall aims to:

• Inspire and encourage fellow hospital Pharmacists in other countries to strive for the next high standard in practice;

• Identify how colleague hospital pharmacists were able to overcome barriers and obstacles in order to make improvement happen; and,

• Recognise those who have completed successful new initiatives in hospital pharmacy service.

During the final phase of the GPI initiative, EAHP plans to implement an online inventory map which will assist hospital pharmacists to learn about initiatives conducted close to their region, to compare initiatives in different areas, and to keep track of newly accepted initiatives. To be included the GPI must have been conducted within the last 10 years, add value or offer improvement to European Hospital Pharmacy Practice and may be transferable to other …