Initiatives to improve appropriate antibiotic prescribing in primary care

Influencing clinicians' prescribing behaviour is important because inappropriate use and overuse of antibiotics are major drivers of antibiotic resistance. A systematic review of interventions for promoting prudent prescribing of antibiotics by general practitioners suggests that multifaceted interventions will maximize acceptability. This article reports how this type of approach has been used successfully in Derbyshire, UK over the last 4 years. The range of interventions that have been used includes educational meetings (both open group events and others targeted at higher prescribers in the surgery) using a supportive and guiding ethos; the provision of support materials aimed at empowering avoidance or delayed antibiotic prescribing, where appropriate, and improving patients' knowledge and confidence in self-management; and the production of different treatment guidelines incorporating key messages with evidence, indicating where antibiotics are unlikely to be of benefit. Education on antibiotics in schools was a novel approach, which was developed in North Derbyshire to increase public awareness of the appropriate treatment for common illnesses without using antibiotics.