The 2024 updated Basel Statements on the future of hospital pharmacy

The Hospital Pharmacy Section of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) revised the Basel Statements on the Future of Hospital Pharmacy to ensure they reflect contemporary challenges, advancements, and trends in hospital pharmacy practice. The process involved global pharmacy leaders, ensuring the updated statements are relevant across diverse healthcare systems.

A multiphase, evidence-driven revision process was employed, beginning with a gap analysis, document mapping, and membership survey that has been previously described. This article contains the final phase the statement update process, which included a workshop at the 81st FIP World Congress in which 92 pharmacy leaders from all World Health Organization (WHO) regions participated. Participants engaged in independent review, group discussions, and a modified Delphi process to assess consensus on the revisions. An a priori consensus threshold of 80% was set for the Delphi study.

Workshop participants, with a mean of 17.7 (SD, 11.4) years of pharmacist experience, contributed to comprehensive revisions, including 2 new Basel Statements and the consolidation of 2 existing statements. The Delphi voting achieved consensus on all revised Basel Statements, with 100% of revisions meeting the 80% threshold. Major updates focused on medication safety leadership, workforce protection, and the integration of technology. The revisions address evolving challenges in pharmacy practice, including safety lessons, the rise of stewardship teams, advancements in informatics, and the impacts of coronavirus disease 2019.

The revised Basel Statements provide an updated framework for hospital pharmacy practice. Future updates should follow similar methodology, focusing on integrating feedback and developing practical guides to improve implementation and utilization of the Basel Statements.