Providing Oncology Pharmacy Services during the Coronavirus Pandemic. French Society for Oncology Pharmacy (Societe Francaise De Pharmacie Oncologique-Sfpo) Guidelines Writing and Evaluation

ABSTRACT

Introduction: In 2020, SARS-COV-2 appeared and the most dramatic pandemic since decades spread over the world. Waiting for vaccines development, cancer patients were at a higher risk of the COVID-19 infection and more likely to be subjects of a higher morbidity and mortality. This was a big challenge for oncology teams that have to treat patients avoiding contamination by SARS-Cov-2. The aim of the current work is to present oncology pharmacy practice guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic to secure pharmaceutical care of the cancer patients and their evaluation, 6 months later. Material(s) and Method(s) In April 2020, the bureau of the French Society for Oncology Pharmacy proposed these recommendations according to the French High Authority of Health regarding the guidelines for Good Practice, slightly modified according to pandemic crisis situation. These guidelines were elaborated by a working group of 7 experts in oncology pharmacy practice. Furthermore, the guidelines were assessed by 31 independent reviewers. In January 2021, guidelines were then evaluated by 47 independent reviewers through a specific survey. Results and discussion: About guidelines elaboration, 100% of reviewers approved the guidelines and 90% of them suggested some improvements. The final version incorporates the best compromises and consists of 26 recommendations organized in 8 different sections. Six months later, 47 pharmacists, mainly from Cancer Centers (17%), University Teaching Hospitals (19%) and general hospitals (49%) evaluated guidelines. Eighty one percent of them have used them and 77% judged them useful or partially useful. 22 recommendations were applied by at least 60% of pharmacists [62-93] and only 4 were applied by around40%of reviewers. Conclusion(s) These guidelines allowed to secure the pharmaceutical management of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most challenged recommendations were linked to external services (i.e. teleworking) or procedure in severe conditions implementation.