Top picks: 10 key resources on antimicrobial resistance

Summary

At Patient Safety Learning we believe that sharing insights and learning is vital to improving outcomes and reducing harm. That’s why we created the hub; providing a space for people to come together and share their experiences, resources and good practice examples.

To mark World Antimicrobial Awareness Week which takes place from 18-24 November, we’ve selected ten resources related to antimicrobial resistance. Shared with us by hub members and patient safety advocates, they provide valuable insights and practical guidance about AMR.

Content

1 Short-term intermittent IV antibiotics – Understanding the issue of under delivery

In this blog, Claire Davies, Clinical Therapy Manager at B. Braun Medical Ltd., explores the issue of under delivery and provides essential insights for clinicians to optimise their antibiotic therapy.

2 General Pharmaceutical Council patient safety spotlight: how pharmacy teams can help minimise antimicrobial resistance

In this article, Dr Diane Ashiru-Oredope and Eleanor Harvey from the UK Health Security Agency identify the risks of prescribing and dispensing oral antimicrobials and consider how pharmacy teams can minimise antimicrobial resistance.

3 Silent Pandemic – The global fight against antimicrobial resistance (film)

The film Silent Pandemic shows how countries, scientists and private initiatives around the world are networking and forming alliances, and what strategies and measures they are using to counter the advance of antibiotic resistance.

4 My involvement with Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship Scheme (CwPAMS) in Zambia

In this blog, Fiona Rees, who worked in the NHS as a hospital pharmacist for 13 years, shares her experience of working with colleagues in Zambia to improve the use of antimicrobials by using the expertise of pharmacists to help tackle AMR.

 5 Reform - Powering the UK's approach to AMR: the future of AMR policy

This report draws on the expert input of a roundtable held by public service think tank Reform in October 2022, to assess progress made against proposals published by Reform in 2020. It recommends actions for NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and public health departments to address the threat of AMR.

6 WHO: How vaccines can help prevent antibiotic resistance – Zimbabwe’s response to drug resistant outbreaks of typhoid and cholera

This case study focuses on large outbreaks of antibiotic resistant strains of both cholera and typhoid in Zimbabwe and the steps taken to tackle them. It looks at a mass typhoid Vi-conjugate vaccine (TCV) vaccination campaign from February to March 2019 in nine suburbs of Harare that were severely affected by the outbreaks.

7 British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy: Antimicrobial stewardship: From principles to practice

This e-book provides an extensive overview of the day-to-day challenges posed by AMR, tools for setting up stewardship programmes and guidance on how to make the most of existing programmes. Its resources apply the principles of antimicrobial stewardship to a wide range of professions, populations and clinical/care settings.

8 WHO: Amala’s story – how to prevent antimicrobial resistance

This animated video, published by WHO, explains what people can do to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistance, illustrated by the example of newborn baby Amala who has a life-threatening infection called septicaemia.

9 Happy Patient - Tools for healthcare professionals and patients about antimicrobial resistance

Happy Patient is a three-year project co-funded by the European Union that seeks to reduce the impact of AMR by decreasing the inappropriate use of antibiotics for the management of common community-acquired infection. The Happy Patient Website offers a variety of communication tools for healthcare professionals and patients.

10 Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis

In this study, an international research collective called the Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators conducted a systematic analysis to estimate estimate deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) that have come about as a result of bacterial AMR. They used data covering 471 million individual records from systematic literature reviews, hospital systems, surveillance systems and other sources. 

#Share4safety

Are you a healthcare professional looking to share your frontline insights to help improve patient safety? Have you developed a resource or tool locally that others could benefit from? Or perhaps you have an experience to share around antimicrobial resistance? Get in touch with us by emailing content@pslhub.org

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