Our aim is to provide a simple, empirical approach to the treatment of common infections, promote the safe use of antibiotics and minimise the emergence of bacterial resistance in the community.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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<\/a><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>In Dorset we follow South Central Antibiotic Network (SCAN) guidance when prescribing antimicrobials in primary care.<\/h2><\/div>Key priorities from the guidance:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>- <\/i><\/span>\n
Reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in children aged 0-9 years<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>
- <\/i><\/span>\n
5 days prescribing – revising prescribing course length for common conditions e.g. acute sinusitis, acute exacerbations of COPD<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>
- <\/i><\/span>\n
Aim for 70% of total antibiotic use in primary care to be from the WHO access category.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>
- <\/i><\/span>\n
Emphasise reduction in broad spectrum antibiotic prescribing, supported by penicillin allergy review in clinical records to further reduce demand<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li>
- <\/i><\/span>\n
Promote the accurate diagnosis of UTI including reducing the inappropriate use of urine dip stick testing and promote effective empirical treatment of urinary tract infection (UTI) in women over 70 years with nitrofurantoin first line where appropriate to reduce emerging resistance patterns to trimethoprim<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ul>
<\/div>When accessing penicillin allergy tools such as those published by NHS Lothian Group may assist.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Reducing unnecessary antibiotic exposure in children<\/h2><\/div>The<\/span>\u202f<\/span>UK second five-year national action plan<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>continues to promote optimal use of antimicrobials to ensure safe and effective patient care by strengthening antimicrobial stewardship programmes. The NHS Oversight Framework 25\/26<\/a> asks that antibiotic prescribing in children be reduced in primary care to \u226425%, reducing unnecessary antibiotic exposure in children.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe PrescQIPP dashboard<\/strong> uses routine primary care antimicrobial prescribing data from ePACT2 analysis to report metrics that can be used to monitor performance:<\/span><\/p>\nNHS Oversight Framework 2025-2026 \u2013 ICB performance dashboard: Children prescribed antibiotics in primary care<\/a><\/p>\nResources to support improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\nHealthier Together infection resources provide self-care and safety netting advice for parents, carers and healthcare professionals<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCaring for Babies and Children with Cough Leaflet<\/a><\/p>\nSouth West Region Webinar recording:\u00a0 Optimising antibiotic use in children with respiratory tract infections in primary care<\/a><\/p>\nSouth West Region Back-Up antibiotic prescription guidance for primary care<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>Optimising antimicrobial duration<\/h2><\/div>The<\/span>\u202f<\/span>UK second five-year national action plan<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>continues to promote optimal use of antimicrobials, which should include the review of dose and duration of antimicrobial prescriptions.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThere is also an ambition to reduce UK antimicrobial use in humans by 5% by 2029. Optimising the duration of antibiotic use supports delivery of both these key requirements, and<\/span>\u202f<\/span>NICE publish antimicrobial stewardship guidance<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>that provides<\/span>\u202f<\/span>evidence based recommendations for 5 day duration of antibiotic use.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThese PrescQIPP dashboards use routine primary care antimicrobial prescribing data from ePACT2 analysis to report metrics that can be used to optimise duration of antibiotic use in primary care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOptimising antimicrobial duration dashboard \u2013 Amoxicillin 500mg capsules<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOptimising antimicrobial duration dashboard \u2013 Doxycycline 100mg capsules<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nPQS 25\/26 encourages an increase in the <\/span>5 day<\/span> prescribing of Amoxicillin or Doxycycline in adults for common infections. The dashboards will need to be filtered to remove people < 19 years of age.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>PrescQIPP AMS Virtual professional reference group:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nQuarterly virtual meeting to highlight new AMR workstream initiatives, support implementation and share the learning from systems. Register here\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>NHS England has developed resources to help <\/span>reduce the impact of antibiotic resistance<\/span>. Refer to the AMR toolkit<\/a> for more information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
Key priorities from the guidance:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div> Reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in children aged 0-9 years<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> 5 days prescribing – revising prescribing course length for common conditions e.g. acute sinusitis, acute exacerbations of COPD<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> Aim for 70% of total antibiotic use in primary care to be from the WHO access category.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> Emphasise reduction in broad spectrum antibiotic prescribing, supported by penicillin allergy review in clinical records to further reduce demand<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> Promote the accurate diagnosis of UTI including reducing the inappropriate use of urine dip stick testing and promote effective empirical treatment of urinary tract infection (UTI) in women over 70 years with nitrofurantoin first line where appropriate to reduce emerging resistance patterns to trimethoprim<\/p>\n<\/div><\/li><\/ul> When accessing penicillin allergy tools such as those published by NHS Lothian Group may assist.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> The<\/span>\u202f<\/span>UK second five-year national action plan<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>continues to promote optimal use of antimicrobials to ensure safe and effective patient care by strengthening antimicrobial stewardship programmes. The NHS Oversight Framework 25\/26<\/a> asks that antibiotic prescribing in children be reduced in primary care to \u226425%, reducing unnecessary antibiotic exposure in children.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The PrescQIPP dashboard<\/strong> uses routine primary care antimicrobial prescribing data from ePACT2 analysis to report metrics that can be used to monitor performance:<\/span><\/p>\n NHS Oversight Framework 2025-2026 \u2013 ICB performance dashboard: Children prescribed antibiotics in primary care<\/a><\/p>\n Resources to support improvement:<\/strong><\/p>\n Healthier Together infection resources provide self-care and safety netting advice for parents, carers and healthcare professionals<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Caring for Babies and Children with Cough Leaflet<\/a><\/p>\n South West Region Webinar recording:\u00a0 Optimising antibiotic use in children with respiratory tract infections in primary care<\/a><\/p>\n South West Region Back-Up antibiotic prescription guidance for primary care<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> The<\/span>\u202f<\/span>UK second five-year national action plan<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>continues to promote optimal use of antimicrobials, which should include the review of dose and duration of antimicrobial prescriptions.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There is also an ambition to reduce UK antimicrobial use in humans by 5% by 2029. Optimising the duration of antibiotic use supports delivery of both these key requirements, and<\/span>\u202f<\/span>NICE publish antimicrobial stewardship guidance<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>that provides<\/span>\u202f<\/span>evidence based recommendations for 5 day duration of antibiotic use.\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n These PrescQIPP dashboards use routine primary care antimicrobial prescribing data from ePACT2 analysis to report metrics that can be used to optimise duration of antibiotic use in primary care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Optimising antimicrobial duration dashboard \u2013 Amoxicillin 500mg capsules<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Optimising antimicrobial duration dashboard \u2013 Doxycycline 100mg capsules<\/span><\/a>\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n PQS 25\/26 encourages an increase in the <\/span>5 day<\/span> prescribing of Amoxicillin or Doxycycline in adults for common infections. The dashboards will need to be filtered to remove people < 19 years of age.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> PrescQIPP AMS Virtual professional reference group:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Quarterly virtual meeting to highlight new AMR workstream initiatives, support implementation and share the learning from systems. Register here\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> NHS England has developed resources to help <\/span>reduce the impact of antibiotic resistance<\/span>. Refer to the AMR toolkit<\/a> for more information.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>Reducing unnecessary antibiotic exposure in children<\/h2><\/div>
Optimising antimicrobial duration<\/h2><\/div>
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