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GPs should be given individual reports on their antibiotic prescribing, recommends NICE

GPs will be given annual reports on their antibiotic prescribing and local resistance patterns under draft plans to curb the use of the drugs in primary care released by NICE today.

The draft NICE guidance says local ‘antimicrobial stewardship teams’ should review GP antibiotic prescribing and target areas where inappropriate prescribing may be driving the development of drug resistance.

The draft guidance recommends that organisations consider linking prescribing to GMC numbers, other identifiers, so that GPs can receive individualised feedback on their own antimicrobial prescribing.

NICE recommends developing annual reports for individual prescribers on their prescribing patterns, local patterns of resistance and any patient safety incidents.

NICE suggests GPs should consider point-of-care testing before prescribing, but GP leaders say services – such as CRP testing – are not widely available to practices.

GPC deputy chair Dr Richard Vautrey told Pulse that GPs were already responsibly prescribing antibiotics in many cases.

He added: ‘GPs don’t prescribe antibiotics lightly and value receiving information that compares their prescribing with their peers, something that has happened for many years. They would welcome a greater focus from Public Health England and other bodies on stepping up patient education and support so as to reduce the expectation that some patients still have about antibiotic prescriptions.’

Professor Mark Baker, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE, told Pulse: ‘It’s often patients themselves who, because they don’t understand that their condition will clear up by itself, or that perhaps antibiotics aren’t effective in treating it, may put pressure on their doctor to prescribe an antibiotic.

“The draft guideline therefore recommends that prescribers take time to discuss with patients the likely nature of their condition, the benefits and harms of immediate antimicrobial prescribing, alternative options such as watchful waiting and/or delayed prescribing and why prescribing an antimicrobial may not be the best option for them.’

The news comes as Pulse revealed in October that public health officials are in talks with NHS England about the possibility of introducing targets to cut antibiotic prescribing into QOF and publishing individual GP antibiotic prescribing rates.

What does the guidance say?

[Commissioner and provider] Organisations should consider including the following in an antimicrobial stewardship programme:

1) Monitoring and evaluating antimicrobial prescribing and how this relates to local resistance patterns

2) Providing regular feedback to prescribers in all care settings about:

  • their antimicrobial prescribing, for example, by using professional regulatory numbers for prescribing as well as prescriber (cost centre) codes
  • patient safety incidents related to antimicrobials, including hospital admissions for rare or serious infections or associated complications

Source: Draft NICE guidance

 


          

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