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On 7^th November, the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) released its 2019 Medicines Shortages Survey which seeks to investigate the reasons and impact of medicines shortages on patients in European hospitals as well as possible solutions. Unlike previous surveys, this year’s investigation will target all healthcare professionals working in the hospital environment as well as patients that have experienced medicines shortages during their hospital stay.

EAHP is extremely concerned by the growing problem of medicines shortages, in particular since it significantly impacts the quality and safety of patient care as shown by EAHP’s 2014 and 2018 Medicines Shortages Survey results. Patients are at risk of suffering deterioration in their health status if they cannot receive their prescribed medicines in a timely manner. Simultaneously, the amount of time that different healthcare professionals are able to spend with patients is reduced by the increased necessity of investing more and more working hours into the management of medicines shortages.

The 2019 Medicines Shortages Survey of EAHP will be open until 13th January 2020 to gather information from healthcare professionals working in the hospital environment and patients that experienced medicines shortages while being treated. In addition to the English version, EAHP released additional language versions of the survey in French, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovakian …