1. Good antibiotic prescribing
Prescribe antibiotics only with clear clinical justification
Document decision-making in antimicrobial prescribing
Intervene surgically when required to control infection
Collect specimens for culture prior to starting therapy
Prescribe antimicrobials according to local guidelines
Prescribe antimicrobials at the correct dose
Choose narrow-spectrum agents
Consider broad spectrum therapy in certain circumstances
De-escalate broad spectrum therapy promptly
Prescribe ALERT antimicrobials only with authorisation from microbiology
Limit surgical prophylaxis to 24 hours
Prescribe oral rather than iv antimicrobials
Consider intravenous therapy under certain circumstances
Switch intravenous to oral therapy promptly
Review antimicrobial therapy regularly and stop when infection has resolved
Seek expert advice

2. Good antibiotic prescribing
Prescribe antibiotics only with clear clinical justification
Patients who receive antimicrobial therapy are at increased risk of colonisation and infection with Clostridium difficile, MRSA and other multi-resistant pathogens.
Patients should not be subjected to this increased risk without reasonable evidence of infection or established prophylactic benefit.

3. Good antibiotic prescribing
Document decision-making in antimicrobial prescribing
Review of antimicrobial therapy by medical colleagues on-call or following transfer of care is facilitated by clear documentation of the reason for initiating prescribing and the original plan for intended course length.
The indication or suspected infection should be documented on the drug chart along with a stop date or review date for the prescription.
In general, antimicrobial courses must be reviewed within 5 days (48 hours for intravenous antimicrobials).

4. Good antibiotic prescribing
Intervene surgically when required to control infection
The presence of foreign bodies has a profound effect on the activity of antimicrobial agents and it is often necessary to remove the foreign material to cure an infection in the vicinity of a foreign body such as a prosthetic heart valve or joint implant.
Similarly, drainage of infected abscesses or empyema and debridement of necrotic tissue is critical to successful outcomes.

5. Good antibiotic prescribing
Collect specimens for culture prior to starting antimicrobial therapy
Cultures are important to isolate the infecting organism and determine the presence of antimicrobial resistance.
The sender of a specimen for culture is responsible for checking the culture result, whether they are medical or nursing staff, and antimicrobial therapy should be tailored accordingly.
Medical microbiology will contact medical staff directly if blood cultures are positive or multi-resistant organisms are isolated.

6. Good antibiotic prescribing
Prescribe antimicrobials according to local guidelines
Local guidelines are developed to be consistent with local pathogen epidemiology and local antimicrobial resistance patterns.
Guidelines recommend antimicrobial agents proven to penetrate the site of infection and supported by evidence of clinical effectiveness.

7. Good antibiotic prescribing
Prescribe antimicrobials at the correct dose
Prescribe adequate doses recommended in local guidelines or the BNF.
The dose must be appropriate for the patient’s renal and hepatic function.
Consult a pharmacist if a patient has renal or hepatic impairment.
Trust guidelines for dosing of aminoglycoside (e.g. gentamicin) and glycopeptide (e.g. vancomycin) antimicrobials must be followed to minimise the risk of treatment failure or toxicity.

8. Good antibiotic prescribing
Choose narrow-spectrum agents
Broad-spectrum antimicrobials cause the most collateral damage to non-pathogenic normal flora, which form an integral component of the host defence against infection by competing with pathogens for nutrients and by producing antibiotic secretions.
Broad-spectrum agents also apply selection pressure to colonising micro-organisms increasing the risk of a patient becoming colonised with resistant strains, which may later cause infection unresponsive to first-line antimicrobials.
Refer to Trust antimicrobial therapy guidelines for recommended narrow spectrum agents for defined clinical indications.

9. Good antibiotic prescribing
Consider broad spectrum therapy in certain circumstances
For patients with life-threatening infection or severe sepsis for whom prompt appropriate therapy is critical to a successful outcome.
For patients who are immunosuppressed – refer to local guidelines.
For patients who have been recently exposed to antimicrobial agents or failed first-line therapy with more narrow spectrum antimicrobial agents.
For patients who are at risk of infection with resistant microorganisms due to recent contact with a healthcare environment.
For patients with a laboratory-confirmed resistant microorganism.
For patients with a history of colonisation or infection with resistant microorganisms in the previous year.

10. Good antibiotic prescribing
De-escalate broad spectrum therapy
Broad-spectrum empirical antimicrobials should be reviewed no later than 48 hours and stepped down to narrow spectrum agents promptly when appropriate
Step-down to more narrow spectrum therapy if a causative organism is identified and antimicrobial sensitivity data are available or discuss with a medical microbiologist.
Prolonged treatment with broad-spectrum antimicrobials increases selection pressure for multi-resistant micro-organisms and limits options for salvage therapy in patients who later relapse.

11. Good antibiotic prescribing
Prescribe ALERT antimicrobials only with authorisation from microbiology
Certain antimicrobial agents have been designated as ‘alert’ antimicrobials by the Trust Drugs Committee for reasons of broad spectrum of activity, potential for toxicity, potential for error or prohibitive cost.
Alert antimicrobials should be prescribed in line with trust guidelines or with authorisation from microbiology.
Medical microbiologists can authorise prescription of alert antimicrobials for individual patients and authorisation will be documented on the pathology computer system and/or in the patient’s medical notes.
Pharmacists are required to confirm authorisation before dispensing alert antimicrobials.
Failure to comply with this policy will be reported to the Medical Director.

12. Good antibiotic prescribing
‘Amber’ ALERT antimicrobials
Prescribe in accordance with Trust guideline or microbiology culture & sensitivity results or with microbiology authorisation
Subject to daily pharmacy review
Unauthorised use will generate automatic referral to weekly microbiology ward round or immediately by phone call if serious
Carbapenems
Ertapenem, Imipenem, Meropenem
Third-generation cephalosporins
Cefotaxime, Ceftriaxone, Cefixime, Ceftazidime
Tazocin
Colistin
AmBisome
Caspofungin / Voriconazole
Click here for ‘Red’ alert antimicrobials

13. Good antibiotic prescribing
‘Red’ ALERT antimicrobials
Prescribe only with authorisation from a consultant medical microbiologist
Breach of policy will be reported to the Medical Director
Linezolid
Daptomycin
Synercid
Tigecycline
Rifampicin / Fucidin monotherapy
Fucidin IV

14. Good antibiotic prescribing
Limit surgical prophylaxis to 24 hours
Antimicrobial prophylaxis for surgery must not be prescribed beyond 24 hours for the majority of surgical procedures.
Established infection discovered during surgery is an indication for converting antimicrobial prophylaxis into a treatment course.

15. Good antibiotic prescribing
Prescribe oral rather than iv antimicrobials
The oral route of administration for antimicrobials is preferred to the intravenous route wherever possible.
Intravenous therapy exposes patients to risks of intravascular device-related infection, bacteraemia and thrombophlebitis, and has been shown to delay discharge from hospital.

16. Good antibiotic prescribing
Consider intravenous therapy under certain circumstances
For patients who are strictly nil-by-mouth.
For patients with non-functional GI tract or malabsorption.
For life-threatening infections or severe sepsis - to be reviewed at 48 hours.
For patients with bacteraemia due to Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa – to be reviewed at 48 hours.
For patients with serious deep-seated infections requiring intravenous antimicrobials to guarantee adequate drug levels at the site of infection.
Examples include: meningitis, intracranial abscess, liver abscess, endocarditis, legionella pneumonia, exacerbations of cystic fibrosis, mediastinitis, inadequately drained abscesses, empyema, severe soft tissue infections such as group A streptococcal infections, infections of foreign bodies, osteomyelitis and septic arthritis.

17. Good antibiotic prescribing
Switch intravenous to oral therapy promptly
Switch to oral antimicrobial agents should be considered for patients who meet all of the following criteria (Sevinc F et al JAC 1999; 43: ):
Completed hours of intravenous therapy.
Condition of the patient is improving.
Haemodynamically stable.
Trend towards normalisation of body temperature and peripheral leucocyte count.
Able to tolerate oral medication and appropriate oral antimicrobial available.
Functioning gastrointestinal tract without signs of malabsorption.
No serious deep-seated infection. For examples see iv therapy slide.
Treatment for liver abscesses, adequately drained abscesses and empyemas, osteomyelitis and septic arthritis can be changed to oral therapy after at least 2 weeks of intravenous therapy.

18. Good antibiotic prescribing
Review antimicrobial therapy regularly and stop when infection has resolved
Unnecessarily prolonged courses may predispose a patient to superinfection with Clostridium difficile or other multi-resistant microorganisms and do not improve clinical effectiveness.
In general, antimicrobial courses must be reviewed within 5 days (48 hours for intravenous antimicrobials).

19. Good antibiotic prescribing
Seek expert advice when necessary
Delay to starting appropriate antibiotic therapy in a hypotensive septic patient is associated with an increase in mortality of 12% per hour (Kumar A et al, Crit Care Med 2006; 34: )
Expert advice is available from microbiology during working hours (x6408) and via switchboard out-of-hours
When phoning for clinical advice you must have the following clinical information: full clinical history, current sepsis status (T, P, BP, RR etc) & details of all recent antimicrobial therapy.
Advice on anti-infectives is available from the consultant pharmacist (pager 1070)