Joan Peppard was this week elected to the role of president of the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP).
She will take over from Roberto Frontini in June 2015, when she will begin a three-year term at the helm of the EAHP, which serves as an association for national organisations that represent hospital pharmacists.
Peppard currently serves on the EAHP board as director of professional development, has twice headed up the Hospital Pharmacists Association of Ireland as its president and is also a chief pharmacist in a hospital in Ireland.
As president of the EAHP, Peppard will look to advance the organisation’s mission to develop hospital pharmacy in order to promote the best and safest use of medicines and medical devices and to create a platform for the education and training of hospital pharmacists.
Among her most pressing concerns is the implementation of new European Statements of Hospital Pharmacy, which were agreed in May this year and set out a robust set of hospital pharmacy practice standards for Europe.
“[T]he number one challenge for the forthcoming EAHP Board is evident,” said Peppard, “how to turn that clear vision for the future of the profession into a reality in every European country.
“I know we have the commitment, insight and enthusiasm to achieve it.”