Antimicrobial resistance is a global public health issue driven by the overuse of antimicrobials and inappropriate prescribing. An antimicrobial stewardship programme is a key component in the reduction of healthcare associated infections and contributes to slowing the development of antimicrobial resistance.
The COVID pandemic has highlighted the potential threat of infectious diseases. Antimicrobial stewardship is an important aspect of mitigating the spread of such diseases and is therefore a high priority for health.
Given the local and national importance, a new governance structure was developed to support antimicrobial stewardship across a new ICS footprint (comprising of 3 CCGs). This was used to ratify ICS-wide antimicrobial guidelines for primary care and support the development and ratification of a new smartphone app to disseminate antimicrobial guidance to prescribers.
