Implementing a clinical pharmacy service in a rural hospital

In this issue of Hospital Pharmacy Europe, we publish the results of an original international collaboration to determine which types of Clinical pharmacy services (CPS) are needed at a small rural hospital in Austria and assess the physicians’ acceptance rate of the pharmacists’ suggestions.

Implementing clinical pharmacy services (CPS) in a rural hospital has been shown to enhance patient safety and provide cost efficiencies. However, in countries such as Austria, few hospitals have a dedicated pharmacy department, and even fewer offer CPS.

Vaccine hesitancy is a complex issue that affects hospital pharmacy staff receiving the influenza vaccine. In this issue, Ryan Hamilton and Adam Baker of De Montfort University, UK discuss the drivers for uptake and hesitancy and propose interventions to address this.

In the first of a short series, Alistair Gray details how the creation of a Fluid Stewardship Committee at Royal Blackburn Hospital in the UK has led to better systems, processes and innovations to support effective intravenous fluid prescribing and management.