It is with great sadness that we have received the notification that Ruud Dessing, ESCP President 1994-1996, passed away at the age of 78. He was suffering from lung fibrosis.
Ruud Dessing was involved in ESCP form the beginning, in the seventies. He stood at the basis of pharmaceutical patient care, and was always active in ethics and philosophy. Ruud Dessing was a pioneer in incorporating ethics and philosophy in pharmaceutical care. He was honoured Fellow of ESCP in 2011.
Ruud Dessing was a very inspiring and amiable person.
Ruud studied chemistry and pharmacy at Leiden University, where he obtained his PhD in 1974. Besides his work as a community pharmacist in Noordwijk, he was director of Amsterdam medical press and published several books on medication use. Ruud Dessing was, together with Niels Muller, editor of the ESCP European Drug Index (EDI: extended information for practitioners confronted with the enormous number of drug names available on the European market, in times before internet a widely used encyclopedia in the last decades of the 20th century). He also was the first pharmacist in The Netherlands who handled the refill requests of patients in the GP practices in Noordwijk and discussed their medication adherence and the (side) effects of their drug use. Patient care took a prominent place in his career as a pharmacist. Ruud Dessing moderated a few times a workshop in philosophy and ethics in pharmacy practice at ESCP Symposia.
Ruud was very present at ESCP events and always had friends around him, not just to drink a beer or a glass of wine, to joke and gag, but, especially when time advanced, to philosophize and bring new ideas as how to bring patient care in pharmacy to a higher level of understanding. Those who know him will miss him.
As the family wrote in their death announcement:
“With loving memories and deep sadness we say goodbye to Ruud, my husband, with a tireless entrepreneurial spirit, our proud father, father-in-law and grandfather, who lived life to the fullest. As a highly learned and astute thinker, he had a great preference for science and philosophy. He enjoyed life in his own unique way and left a lasting impression on everyone who knew him. His zest for life, warmth and strength will always live in us.” The funeral has taken place in a private setting. We extend our condolences to his wife and (grand)children and wish them much strength in coping with the loss of this inspiring man.
The next special issue of IJCP is on the theme of “Artificial intelligence based solutions and innovative technologies in clinical pharmacy practice and research”.
Guest editors
– Prof. Kreshnik Hoti, Faculty of Medicine, Division of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Care, University of Pristina, Prishtina, Kosovo.
– Prof. Anita Elaine Weidmann, Head of Clinical Pharmacy Dept. at Innsbruck University; Associate Editor of the IJCP and ESCP Research Committee member.
This theme is both timely and relevant considering rapid developments in the area of AI and potential impact on clinical pharmacy practice and research. Submissions should be aligned to the broad field of clinical pharmacy practice, in relation to AI and related Innovative Technologies, and within the scope of the journal.
Deadline for manuscript submission: 31 January 2025.
Delighted that the 2023 Clarivate impact factor for the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy has just been released and is 2.6! This is an increase from 2.4 in 2022 and means that the impact factor has increased every year since 2020. IJCP IS NOW IN QUARTILE 2 of Pharmacology and Pharmacy. This is a major achievement, moving from Q4 to Q2 in 2 years in one of the largest categories in Clarivate.
Professor Derek Stewart, IJCP Editor-in-Chief and immediate past President of ESCP said, “I am indebted to the associate editors, board members, reviewers, authors and those citing us! While we strive to publish quality, impactful papers, the impact factor remains an important metric.”
Remember that ESCP is affiliated with IJCP. All abstracts presented at our workshops and symposia are published in IJCP.
All ESCP members have free access to all journal issues, via the member login pages.
There is also an excellent commentary from the ESCP Research Committee, ‘Writing a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal: Guidance from the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy’, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11096-023-01695-6 This can also be found under the ‘Guidelines and Tools’ section of the members’ only section on the ESCP website.
ESCP is affiliated with the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (IJCP), with all abstracts from our workshops and symposia published in the journal.
This includes a great paper from members of ESCP committees, ‘Scope, content and quality of clinical pharmacy practice guidelines: a systematic review’, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11096-023-01658-x This is a key paper for all interested in clinical pharmacy practice, research and education.
All ESCP Best Practice Papers are now housed in a collection on the IJCP website https://link.springer.com/collections/febadhfjbg and are available on the members only section of the ESCP website
ESCP is affiliated with the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (IJCP), with all abstracts from our workshops and symposia published in the journal.
ESCP is affiliated with the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (IJCP), with all abstracts from our workshops and symposia published in the journal.
With guest editors Filipa Alves da Costa, Matej Stuhec and Martina Hahn, the issue has 32 articles relevant for all practitioners, researchers, educators and students. Mental health covers a wide range of conditions, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, opioid dependence, dementia, to name a few. This means that the specific papers covered in this special issue are also diverse, and our authors have contributed opinion pieces, review articles and research-based papers that cover many of these topics.
ESCP is affiliated with the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (IJCP), with all abstracts from our workshops and symposia published in the journal.
Check out the great selection of reviews, research papers, letters and much more. Great range of topics on clinical pharmacy practice, education and research. Remember to sign up for the conflicts of interest
ESCP is affiliated with the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (IJCP), with all abstracts from our workshops and symposia published in the journal.
The ESCP Research Committee has recently published a commentary in the June issue of the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy giving guidance on writing successful research grants.
ESCP is affiliated with the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy (IJCP), with all abstracts from our workshops and symposia published in the journal.
Update from the General Committee (by Derek Stewart)
The General Committee is the ESCP leadership body and is responsible for driving the strategy of the society. We are continuing to move with delivering our 2022-2024 strategy and are now working with external consultants, 3Sixty Healthcare Meetings Consultancy, on a number of key areas surrounding event planning and strategic partnerships with industry. We have now approved the 2023 plans for each of the ESCP Committees. These are exciting and ambitious plans which will impact the products that we deliver for our members. We are very grateful for the hard work of the committees and look forward to future updates. Each committee has provided an update of activities in this newsletter. We are also pushing forward on collaborative agreements with several national clinical pharmacy societies, with mutual benefits for ESCP and the national societies. If you are involved with your national clinical pharmacy society and would like to explore partnership, then please get in touch. You will read later in the newsletter about our continued work on the Oath to Society with the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP). Along with EAHP, we are also progressing the establishment of the European Council for Pharmacy Education Accreditation (ECPhA) and will provide updates in future newsletters. We have also had very productive discussions with the European Pharmaceutical Students’ Associations (EPSA) regarding collaboration and are in the process of meeting with the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF).
Interested in joining the General Committee? Watch this space for announcements of vacancies.
Update from the Communication Committee (by Derek Stewart)
For the last year, Derek Stewart ESCP President has chaired the Communication Committee. During that time the committee has been increasingly active in improving communication to members and non-members. If you are not already doing so, please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. The committee is now working on an ambassador initiative, which will be presented to the General Committee in the next few months and then piloted. Watch this space!
Derek is now handing the chair of the committee to Esteban Zavaleta.
Esteban Zavaleta, PharmD, MSM, has more than 17 years of experience in hospital and clinical pharmacy. Although his position is related to different administrative activities, he is actively involved in several clinical and research projects. Esteban has been active in a variety of pharmacy organizations in Costa Rica, and currently, he is an active member of several global pharmacy organizations such as ESCP.
Esteban aspires to improve the communication with current active members and invite other clinical pharmacy personnel around the world to join ESCP´s initiatives.
In March, we also welcomed a new committee member.
Dr Abdu Soltani, Assistant Professor in Clinical Pharmacy & Molecular Neurosciences. Abdu joined the Academic Quality Department at Qatar University Health in 2021. He completed his PhD at King’s College London in 2011 (Molecular Neurosciences & Medicinal Chemistry). Abdu has over 10 years’ experience as a clinical pharmacist, research investigator and quality assurance person at King’s College London, University College London & University of Hertfordshire, UK.
Abdu’s research interests are focused on optimizing the clinical management of neurological & psychiatric disorders in addition to medical education. Looking forward to joining the fantastic team of ESCP’s communication committee.
Update from the Education Committee (by Kateřina Malá Ládová)
In Spring 2023, EdCom welcomed three new members
Dr. Hamde Nazar, director of education and senior lecturer in pharmacy practice, School of Pharmacy, the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Dr. Joanne Brown, clinical education pharmacist, Northern Ireland Universities Network
Dr. Valentina Buda, clinical pharmacist and associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Romania
All three have become immediately involved in EdCom activities so that the action plan for 2023 can be fulfilled. EdCom also organizes and supports ESCP webinars, the quality of which is demonstrated through the profiles of the internationally renowned expert presenters from across the world. Visit our website for more information. The EdCom will also deliver a workshop at the ESCP symposium in Aberdeen later this year.
Update from the Special Interest Group (SIG) Council (by Bart Pouls)
The SIG task force is working on operationalising communications within SIGs and within ESCP together with ComCom and the webmasters. In addition, we are setting up the SIG council to learn from each other and determine how we can best support our vibrant community. Interested in joining on of the SIGs or starting one with fellow ESCP members? Please click here for more information.
In 2017, during the first year of my PhD studies, I attended my first ESCP conference in Heidelberg, Germany. The value of sharing experiences and have discussions among colleagues from different countries was evident to me, having been active within an EU-funded project. Clinical pharmacists in many countries are facing the same challenges and are concurrently working with the same possible solutions. After the conference, I became a member of ESCP and attended more (digital) events in the following years. After finishing my PhD on medication reviews by clinical pharmacists in hospitalised patients, I started as a post doc on the role of the pharmacist in primary care with a focus on pharmacist prescribing. In 2022, I was lucky to successfully apply for a position as ESCP General Committee member. With a fresh look, I hope to drive the society forward in connecting as many clinical pharmacy researchers, educators and practitioners from Europe and abroad as possible. With high-quality events and activities (for a reasonable price) ESCP shall provide a platform for all to connect and network and to share knowledge, experiences, and ideas. For this year, we have been working on excellent programmes for our conferences in Antwerp, Belgium (April) and Aberdeen, UK (Oct/Nov). And for the upcoming years, we are working on a sustainable medium to long term event strategy concerning the selection, planning and organisation of our events, ensuring high-quality and affordable events for our members. In doing so, ESCP shall continue to support all of us in advancing clinical pharmacy to optimize outcomes for patients and society in the future.
Update from the General Committee (by Derek Stewart)
The General Committee is the ESCP leadership body and is responsible for driving the strategy of the society. Since the General Assembly meeting in Prague, we have been focusing on several key areas including,
the benefits that we provide to our members
review of the annual plans from the Communication, Research and Education Committees and the Special Interest Group Council
the society marketing and communication strategy
our approaches to event planning
relationships with national clinical pharmacy societies
relationships with international societies and organisations
We are delighted to have entered into an agreement of joint working with SIFaCT – Società Italiana di Farmacia Clinica e Terapia (Italian Society of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics).
Update from the Communication Committee (by Derek Stewart)
Over the past year, the communication committee has been working very hard to refresh the communication approach. As well as the work developing and introducing the newsletter, we have refreshed our approach to social media and email. We are very active on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, with posts almost every day. Please follow us, like, comment, retweet and share the posts to increase the reach of our messages. Over the next few months, we will turn our attention to piloting an ‘ambassador’ initiative with ESCP members advocating for the society at national levels.
Update from the Education Committee (by Kateřina Malá Ládová)
The ESCP Education Committee (EdCom) coordinates the educational activities of ESCP and oversees the scientific level of these activities. The EdCom consists of pharmacy educators who meet monthly and collaborate on initiatives aligned to the ESCP strategic goals. The committee is now led by Kateřina Malá-Ládová from the Czech Republic as Chair and Zachariah Nazar from Qatar as Vice-chair; other committee members include representatives from Belgium, Poland, Turkey, and USA.
The EdCom has responsibility for ESCP webinar program and leads on all other educational activities. The committee also participates in the construction of the scientific programs of the ESCP events as well as delivers workshops, lectures, or oral communications in the ESCP events.
Initiatives of the EdCom for 2023 include: implementation of a plan to optimize the ESCP webinars with the addition of resources to encourage further interactive learning; the delivery of a pharmacy education workshop at the 51st ESCP Autumn Symposium; and the development of a clinical case study resource. We will also be exploring the educational needs and expectation of ESCP members, and are open to any suggestions for collaboration.
Currently, EdCom has five members, one of whom is a representative of the ESCP General Committee. We will very soon welcome three new members who will support the work of the committee.
Update from the Research Committee (by Martin Henman and Betül Okuyan)
Last year at ESCP General Assembly held during annual symposium in Prague, Martin Henman took over the chair of ESCP Research Committee from Vibhu Paudyal, and Betul Okuyan has become a vice chair of the Committee. There are nine members of the Research Committee. Anita Weidmann and Francesca Wirth have also joined ESCP Research Committee last year.
The commentary written by ESCP Research Committee members, led by Anita Weidmann entitled “How to write a successful grant application: Guidance provided by the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy” has been accepted for publication in International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy in 2023. Please check “how to… series” materials at ESCP website under Guidelines and Tools headings. ESCP Research Committee members are working on new topics which will be launched soon.
Vibhu Paudyal will run ESCP Research Committee Webinar entitled “How to write a research paper” on March 7th 2023 at 7.00 pm CEST.
ESCP Research committee members are working on a study protocol which aims to determine the clinical pharmacy research priorities of ESCP members and on a systematic review to identify the scope and quality of international clinical pharmacy practice guidelines. The Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) and ESCP deprescribing research collaboration is led by Vibhu Paudyal and Anita Weidmann on the behalf of ESCP Research Committee.
To ensure the quantity, quality and rigour of research abstracts submitted to ESCP Spring and October meetings, the fourth iteration of version 6 of the Guidelines for Successful Scientific Presentations is being adapted by the ESCP Research Committee through the efforts of Ankie Hazen, Martin Henman, Betul Okuyan, led by Anita E Weidmann. Anita Weidmann is also preparing a presentation video including key tips for authors who is planning to submit abstracts to ESCP Meetings.
Abstract review is complete for the ESCP Spring Workshop 2023 in Antwerp. Preparation of a masterclass and a workshop for 51st ESCP Symposium are underway by Committee members. Martin Henman is a chair of the Organizing Committee and Ankie Hazen and Anita Weidmann are members of the Scientific Committee of the Aberdeen ESCP Symposium 2023.
Update from the Special Interest Group (SIG) Council (by Bart Pouls)
For those who have not noticed yet: the ESCP has revived its Special Interest Group (SIG) community and currently there are three active SIGs: deprescribing, mental health and young ESCP.
Apart from the new topics, a few other things have changed. New is that SIG membership is active. Being part of a SIG means you will actively help to achieve the SIGs goals. SIGs set themselves with attainable goals every year or two in order to remain an active group. SIGs will make sure that interesting output (such as webinars or documents) will be shared with ESCP members. SIGs are now led by a steering group. The steering group consists of four to six SIG members who take responsibility for part of the SIGs activities such as communication or working towards a SIG goal.
Interested in joining on of the SIGs or starting one with fellow ESCP members? Please click here for more information.
Update from the Young ESCP SIG (by Mina Kovačevič)
YESCP welcomes young professionals, and young at heart to join us on the journey through the uncovered pathway of clinical pharmacy. We aim to connect recent graduates on a professional as well as social level through webinars, mentoring projects or social dinner @ESCP events. Join our SIG and discover what we have to offer. We are looking forward to getting to know you, and shape the future of clinical pharmacy in Europe, and worldwide together!
Update from the ESCP SIG on Deprescribing (by Betül Okuyan)
A new ESCP Special Interest Group (SIG) on Deprescribing was launched at our first and second kick-off meetings (October 20th, 2021, during the ESCP Autumn Symposium and November 30th, 2021). Panel discussion with the participation of global deprescribing experts (Barbara Farrell-Canada, Denis O’ Mahony- Ireland, Mirko Petrovic-Belgium, Stephen Byrne as a moderator) titled “Barriers and Facilitators to Achieving the Goal of Deprescribing” was held on March 28th, 2022. Workshop on deprescribing in neurological disorders was moderated by Monika Lutters at ESCP Spring Workshop- 28-29 April 2022 in Zürich, Switzerland.
During last year, three online meeting was held with ESCP SIG Deprescribing members. ESCP SIG Deprescribing Group Meeting in person was held during the ESCP Prague Symposium – 19-21 October 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic. This meeting was open to all attendees of the symposium. At SIG Hot topics session of ESCP Prague Symposium 2022- Polypharmacy and Ageing- highly-individualized, person-centered care, Stephen Byrne presented the lecture entitled “Deprescribing in Europe & other countries: current initiatives and ongoing activities.”. Our next plan is conducting a baseline survey on deprescribing initiatives in all countries in Europe, both research and practice activities.
ESCP SIG on Deprescribing was organized Global Journal Club with The Australian Deprescribing Network (ADeN), Canadian Deprescribing Network, and the US Deprescribing Research Network (USDeN). Second International Deprescribing Journal Club was hosted by ESCP. iSIMPATHY (implementing Stimulating Innovation in the Management of Polypharmacy and Adherence Through the Years) is an EU funded partnership between Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland delivering person-centred, pharmacist-led medication reviews across primary and secondary care. Pharmacist representatives from the iSIMPATHY project in each of the three countries presented the project data to date and also reflected on the implementation of iSIMPATHY in their own areas. For more details (including recording and slides of presentation) click here.
ESCP SIG Deprescribing membership is available to all ESCP members. If you are not an ESCP member yet, please become a member of ESCP to activate your membership for the ESCP SIG Deprescribing. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further information you may need at sig.deprescribing@escpweb.org
Update from the ESCP SIG on Mental Health (by Martina Hahn)
In 2023 Mental Health SIG had its first meeting. After two meetings, the SIG will start to work on a paper about the provision of pharmaceutical care in the different European countries as well as provision of pharmaceutical care in mental health.
Also, the paper look for reimbursement methods of each country. With this paper, SIG hopes to give other some foundation for their argumentation on the National level to achieve a reimbursement and provision on clinical pharmacy for people with mental health issues
During the opening ceremony of the ESCP symposium in Prague, Derek Stewart, ESCP President, presented the award of ESCP Fellowship (FESCP) to Bart van den Bemt, Stephane Steurbaut, Filipa Alves da Costa, and Hege Salvesen Blix (not shown).
Fellowship is awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of clinical pharmacy in general and in Europe in particular, as well as service to ESCP.
Bart van den Bemt is Professor of Personalized Pharmaceutical Care at Radboud University/Radboud university medical center. He has a long history of involvement in national and international pharmacy organizations. He has had many roles at ESCP, most notably that of immediate past President.
Stephane Steurbaut is Sector Lead for research, education, and innovation at the Department of Hospital Pharmacy, UZ Brussel, Belgium and Associate Professor in Pharmaceutical Care, Faculty of Medicine & Pharmacy, VUB, Belgium. Like Bart, he also has had many roles at ESCP, most notably that of immediate past Secretary to the General Committee.
Filipa Alves da Costa is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy University of Lisbon, where she leads the Pharmaceutical Care and Clinical Pharmacy Laboratory. She is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, Frontiers in Pharmacology and Pharmacy Education. She is immediate past Chair of the ESCP Education Committee and was President of the 2021 annual symposium.
Hege Salvesen Blix is Professor in Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Oslo and a pioneer of clinical pharmacy in Norway. She has been a member of ESCP for many years, most recently being a member of the General Committee and representative on the Education Committee. The ESCP President thanked all four for their international leadership in clinical pharmacy, highlighting their specific impacts on ESCP.
Bart van den Bemt, Stephane Steurbaut, Filipa Alvez da Costa
Hege Salvesen Blix
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