Family doctors should question colleagues who dole out too many antibiotics, NHS watchdogs have said, after research found 97 per cent of patients who ask for the drugs receive them. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has issued draft guidance to clamp down on prescribing of such medication, amid concern that rising resistance to antibiotics is becoming a “catastrophic threat” to the nation’s health. Medical experts say the over-use of antibiotics in the Western world is fuelling infections which resist treatment, and could mean an extra 10 million deaths a year, unless practices change.
The new proposals says GPs should step in if they believe their colleagues are giving antibiotics out too often – and should resist pressure from patients who insist they need the medication. Health officials said NHS professionals needed to question each other, and that patients should be given a proper explanation, when antibiotics are not suitable.
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Filed under: GP's, A&E, antibiotics, family doctors, GP's
