Hospital pharmacy in Portugal and its future trends

The authors begin by presenting a brief historical summary of hospital pharmacists' activities in Portugal, especially since the 1950s. They state their views on the present situation of hospital pharmacy in various aspects, namely: general legislation; activities and premises of pharmacy services; pharmaceutical career and staff recruitment; the National Hospital Formulary of Medicines and Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committees; acquisition, production and distribution of medicines; and clinical pharmacy activities. Future trends of hospital pharmacy in Portugal are summarized, stressing the following points: evolution of production and information, unit dose distribution, and steady increase of other clinical pharmacy activities.