Agenda item

The Board is asked to (1) agree to the establishment of a B&nes Anti-Microbial Resistance Strategic Collaborative, chaired by the CCG Clinical Chair, reporting to this Board at 6 monthly intervals; and (2) support the European Antibiotic Awareness Day on 18^th November and pledge to become an Antibiotic Guardian

Dr Ian Orpen introduced this item to the Board. He explained that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is an increasing global and national problem, predicted to kill an extra 10 million global deaths a year by 2050 – more than cancer. He said there have been very few new antibiotics developed in the past 30 years and very few are in development at the moment. Therefore stewardship of existing antibiotics is essential to allow us to continue to successfully treat infections now and in the future. He stated that the UK Government have included AMR in the National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies and have published a UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy 2013 to 2018.

He said that a whole economy wide approach is now required to allow us to effectively implement the key objectives within the UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy. To do this we need to collaborate throughout the whole of Bath and North East Somerset: to improve the prevention of infection, increase peoples understanding of the risks that resistant infections bring, and encourage behaviour change to reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics. 80% of antibiotic use is in primary care and the community, and half of this is for respiratory infections, many of which are self-limiting and can be managed with supported self-care, for example from community pharmacies. However, there is also a significant amount of ‘unknown’ antibiotic use in other areas such as dental care; and the large numbers of tourists visiting Bath bring both resistant bacteria and a variety of imported antibiotics.

He proposed the establishment of a Bath and North East Somerset Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Collaborative, chaired by him, reporting to the Health and Wellbeing Board. He said that membership would include wide representation from NHS and private health care providers, public health, PHE, academic and clinical networks, patient and public representation, and local healthcare professional representation. The purpose of the Collaborative will be to facilitate implementation of the UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy key objectives at a local level, in particular;

·  Improving infection prevention and control practices

·  Optimising prescribing practice

·  Improving professional education, training and public engagement

·  Developing new drugs, treatments and diagnostics

·  Better access to and use of surveillance data

He stated a successful collaborative is anticipated to increase appropriate self-care of infections, resulting in a reduction in workload for primary and emergency healthcare services. He added that increased uptake of vaccinations would deliver a reduction in preventable infections in all parts of the economy, resulting in reduced days lost at work and school, reduced workload for healthcare services, and a reduction in avoidable life lost. Avoidance of healthcare acquired infections will reduce harm and associated costs - each Clostridium difficile infection costs the NHS at least £10,000.

Bruce Laurence said that he strongly supported this initiative and the need to manage our antibiotic use.

The Board RESOLVED to:

i)  Agree to the establishment of a Bath and North East Somerset Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Collaborative, chaired by the CCG Clinical Chair, reporting to the Health and Wellbeing Board at 6 monthly intervals

ii)  Support European Antibiotic Awareness Day on 18^th November and pledge to become an Antibiotic Guardian at https://antibioticguardian.com/ .