As Penicillin turns 96 and we note World Antimicrobial awareness week we are delighted to be joined by SPPG Pharmacy colleagues and Dr Hannah McCormick, Clinical Microbiologist to discuss interpretation of results, top tips and common issues in microbiology, EUCAST sensitivity reporting as well as high level trends in prescribing, resistance and helpful tools to address this.
Resources
- Relevant Previous Webinars
- (ENC)Educate. Advocate, Act Now
World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a WHO global campaign to raise awareness of AMR and promote best practices among One Health stakeholders to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. - Antibiotic amnesty — Safe Disposal of Antibiotics
Encouraging the public to safely dispose of any unused or out of date antibiotics at their local community pharmacy, to help reduce the risk of AMR. This prevents hoarding, inappropriate reuse or disposing of them via domestic waste streams. Contaminating the environment and water courses with antibiotic residues can spread resistant genes among bacteria, putting our health at risk. Not many people realise that leftover antibiotics can be returned to pharmacies for safe disposal.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) have developed resources which are available to download to support this campaign - New 5-year UK AMR National Action Plan
The new UK AMR National Action Plan (NAP) Confronting antimicrobial resistance 2024 to 2029 was launched in May 2024 by Health Minister, Robin Swann, and Agriculture and Environment Minister. The NAP was developed jointly by all four devolved nations. It is divided into four themes with 9 outcomes — see Figure 1: • reducing the need for, and unintentional exposure to, antimicrobials • optimising the use of antimicrobials • investing in innovation, supply and access • being a good global partner
- Back-up Antibiotic Prescriptions – reducing unintentional exposure to antimicrobials
- Antibiotic prescribing rates in Northern Ireland (NI) are higher than other UK regions and most other European countries where data is available.
- Prescribers in NI had been making good progress from 2016 in reducing antimicrobial prescribing rates by 10% in 2018/19. However, COVID and the Group A Streptococcal outbreak in the winter of 2022 have had a negative impact.
- Back-up prescribing (previously called delayed) is one of several strategies that can be used to reduce antibiotic use. NICE guideline NG15 recommends using a back-up antibiotic prescription when immediate antimicrobial prescribing is not deemed to be the most appropriate option. Evidence shows that back-up prescribing with patient counselling is a safe and effective strategy to manage some self-limiting conditions, e.g. acute otitis media, sore throat, acute rhinosinusitis — see NICE guidance for further information.
- Coding back-up antibiotic prescriptions
- It is good practice to use appropriate clinical codes when using back-up prescriptions to aid future audit and quality improvement activities.
- Read Codes (Vision, EMIS)
- 8BPO — deferred antibiotic therapy
- 8CAk — patient advised to delay filling prescription
- 8OAN — Provision of TARGET Managing Your Common Infection (Self-Care) Leaflet with back-up prescription issued.
- De-labelling — Penicillin allergy
- Penicillin allergy is a common contra-indication to the use of antibiotics, putting patients at increased risk of AMR or adverse effects. It is important to distinguish between non-allergic adverse effects and true allergic reactions — see NICE CG183
- Drug allergy: diagnosis and management.
- The Pharmacy Forum NI have endorsed a Penicillin Allergy Checklist for pharmacists for use in NI. The checklist will help pharmacists discuss penicillin allergy with patients. For further information see Penicillin Allergy Awareness and Checklist – NI Rollout – Pharmacy Forum NI.
- New Regional Infection Prevention & Control Manual
- The new Regional Infection Prevention & Control Manual for Northern Ireland has been developed by the Public Health Agency (PHA).
- The Manual is a quick reference guide available all to the health care staff, no passwords or registration are required.
