The presentation by Joana Simões and Carolina Marques of the Hospital da Luz Lisboa Pharmaceutical Services, was the winner in the 1 st Pharmaceutical Consultation Pitch Contest , promoted by the Portuguese Association of Hospital Pharmacists (APFH) . The initiative, where Hospital da Luz was the only private contestant, views to promote the implementation of the hospital pharmaceutical consultation and reward the best practices, the process of selection and voting by jury being concluded on March 16. Ten hospitals participated in this national contest. Hospital da Luz Lisboa started by being one of the three finalists chosen, after the national voting of associates, together with Unidade Local de Saúde de São João (Porto) and Unidade Local de Saúde Lisboa Central. In the final session, held at Casa da Música do Porto, the finalists made their presentations, and the jury awarded the first place to Carolina Marques and Joana Simões (on the right, in the photo above, with Patrícia Cavaco, president of APFH). The Hospital da Luz Lisboa Pharmaceutical Consultation Ensures follow-up to every patient taking ambulatory therapy in this hospital, as well as patients from the Hospital da Luz network units of Torres de Lisboa, Amadora and Odivelas. Can be done in person or by phone, the process of creation of a video consultation being underway, which will allow to extend the reach of the pharmaceutical consultation to patients from other units of Hospital da Luz network. In the last quarter of 2023, it covered a monthly average of 450 patients. In that period, about 870 consultations were provided, 62 of which first-time consultations, 121 follow-up consultations, 43 phone consultations, and 38 consultations to patients integrating clinical research studies. “The Pharmaceutical Consultation represents an important tool viewing to ensure the safety and efficacy of medication, and at Hospital da Luz Lisboa we invest in building the necessary skills to follow up the therapeutic program of the patient, thus making it possible to solve promptly and efficiently any problems related with medication, in close articulation with all the health professionals integrating the plan of care of the patient”, explained Joana Simões and Carolina Marques in their presentation.
