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International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy

, Volume 36, Issue 3, pp 471–475 | Cite as

Establishing a pharmacy presence in the emergency department: opportunities and challenges in the French setting

  • Lucien RouletEmail author
  • Nathalie Asseray
  • Françoise Ballereau
Commentary
First Online:

Abstract

Overview of clinical pharmacy practice around the world shows that pharmaceutical services in emergency departments (EDs) are far less common in Europe than in North America. Reported experiences have shown the impact of a clinical pharmacy service on drug utilisation and safety issues. This commentary presents the implementation of a pharmacy presence in the ED of a French tertiary care hospital. Our experience helps to define the role of the clinical pharmacist in the ED, including patient interviewing, providing medication reconciliation, promoting drug safety, and supporting specific interventions to improve quality of care and patient safety. The role of ED pharmacists in the improvement of quality of care is not necessarily limited to drug therapy, e.g. by helping outpatients to access care and treatment facilities as best suits their needs. Challenges of implementing ED pharmacy services have been identified well, but still require developing strategies to be overcome.

Keywords

Continuity of care Emergency department France Implementation of clinical pharmacy services Literature review 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Drs Antoine Dupuis and Marie-Line Mottier for reviewing this article.

Funding

None.

Conflicts of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Copyright information

© Koninklijke Nederlandse Maatschappij ter bevordering der Pharmacie 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Lucien Roulet
    • 1
    • 2
    Email author
  • Nathalie Asseray
    • 2
    • 3
  • Françoise Ballereau
    • 2
    • 4
  1. 1.Emergency DepartmentTeaching HospitalNantesFrance
  2. 2.Faculty of Medical SciencesUPRES EA 3826NantesFrance
  3. 3.Infectious Diseases DepartmentTeaching HospitalNantesFrance
  4. 4.MedqualTeaching HospitalNantesFrance

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