Antibiotics

(asked on 24th February 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to prevent overuse of antibiotics in the NHS.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 5th March 2020

Optimising the use of antimicrobials is central to the United Kingdom’s efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The UK’s five-year national action plan for AMR sets the ambition to reduce UK antimicrobial use in humans by 15% by 2024.

NHS England and NHS Improvement is strengthening antimicrobial stewardship through initiatives including education, training, clinical support tools and guidance. In 2020/21, the National Health Service will use Commissioning for Quality and Innovation schemes to improve the management of urinary tract infections and reduce antimicrobial use in secondary care.

Public Health England’s ‘Keep Antibiotics Working’ national public awareness campaign, first launched in October 2017, has helped reduce public expectation for antibiotics and supports healthcare professionals in their prescribing conversations with patients.

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