Misuse of antibiotics threatens to undermine the progress that has been made in medicine over recent decades as the overuse of antibiotics makes patients less likely to respond to treatment, warns Ireland's leading clinicians, today, on European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) 2015.

Leaders from medical, veterinary and pharmaceutical professions are gathering today for the fifth annual antibiotic awareness event, which aims to improve practice in antibiotic prescribing and create awareness to antibiotic resistance.

Healthcare professionals from RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland) will contribute to today's event entitled "Improving Practice in Antibiotic Prescribing" which is taking place in the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (RCPI). The event will involve a plenary session and an interactive workshop which will advise attendees on how to deliver improvements in antibiotic prescribing.

The plenary session will be chaired by Dr Fidelma Fitzpatrick, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at RCSI and Consultant Microbiologist at Beaumont Hospital. Dr Fitzpatrick warns that infections caused by many types of antibiotic resistant bacteria are increasing in Ireland, and that the onus is on prescribers to ensure antibiotics are used effectively so their efficacy is preserved for future generations. 

She said, "Antibiotic resistance is a major threat to patient safety and to public health. Of course antibiotics are life-saving medicines and modern healthcare would not be possible without them but they have come at a cost, which is antibiotic resistance. As prescribers, it is vital that we apply a rational approach to antibiotic prescribing that maximises the likelihood of successfully treating infections, while minimising the risk of selecting out antibiotic resistance. We need to ‘start smart' and following our hospital antibiotic guidelines and after one or two days of treating a patient with antibiotics, consider changing the medication when we have microbiology results or indeed stopping it if it becomes clear that the patients does not have an infection. 

“Also, as educators of future doctors, we need to focus on preparing the prescribers of the future to use antibiotic appropriately. In RCSI in addition to face to face teaching on antibiotics and antibiotic resistance we have recently launched an interactive Technology Enhanced Learning project for intermediate cycle students based around real-life clinical scenarios that takes students through the decision making processes in choosing the correct antibiotics for a particular scenario. Increasing antibiotic resistance and the potential emergence of untreatable infections is the reality for this generation of future doctors so it is really important that they are prepared for their responsibilities in choosing antibiotics wisely in order to preserve antibiotics for future generations.”

Deborah McNamara, RCSI Council Member and Consultant Surgeon (General/Colorectal) at Beaumont Hospital will deliver a presentation at the plenary session at today's meeting entitled ‘Quality improvement: how it works in clinical practice’, which will focus on barriers to delivering high quality healthcare and how they may be overcome, emphasising the role of quality improvement methodologies.

McNamara will outline the work she has done, with Dr Fitzpatrick, in Beaumont Hospital to develop improvement capability and increase engagement by front-line staff using the ‘Better Beaumont' initiative. The new structures, as part of this campaign have led to a reduction of the rate of surgical site infections on one of Beaumont's busiest surgical wards by 37%.

Dr Robert Cunney, Consultant Microbiologist and HSE/RCPI Clinical Lead warns that a casual attitude to antibiotics is damaging their effectiveness and we are seeing an alarming rise in infections caused by so called ‘superbugs', such as MRSA and multiple-resistant strains of E.coli. He said, "Taking antibiotics when they aren't needed means that they might not work when you really need them for a serious infection. Leading clinicians from the HSE (Health Service Executive), general practice, hospital care, surgery, dentistry and pharmacy will attend this event to mark EAAD and to raise awareness amongst health professionals about using antibiotics wisely. We all agree that everyone has an important role to play in ensuring correct use of antibiotics and tackling the global health threat of antibiotic resistance. The evidence is very clear - overuse and misuse of antibiotics has allowed bacteria to develop resistance and they are becoming immune to the drugs we use to defend ourselves against them."