In 2023 NHS England declared that community pharmacy staff had an essential clinical role in antimicrobial stewardship activities and collaborative working with other primary care colleagues as well as ongoing and continued public education to ensure the safe and appropriate use of antibiotics.

In a report on the findings from the community pharmacy quality scheme 2020–22 on antimicrobial stewardship initiatives NHS England said that: ‘Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) requires effective teamwork between healthcare professionals, with patients receiving consistent messages from all healthcare professionals on the appropriate antimicrobial use.

Patient education may reduce patients’ expectations to receive antibiotics for self-limiting conditions and reduce the pressure on primary care clinicians to prescribe antibiotics.’

As part of the scheme pharmacy teams reported checking: duration, dosage, appropriateness of antibiotic and patient allergies and medicine interactions (94 – 95%); antibiotic prescribing guideline adherence (89%), and checking patients’ previous use of antibiotics (81%). 

Prescribers were contacted for 2,741 (1.3%) of the antibiotic checklists, the most common reasons were around dosage and duration, and possible patient allergy.¹⁵ A key tool that helped pharmacies in the scheme was the TARGET Antibiotic Checklist.¹⁶

Indeed, antimicrobial stewardship is of central importance for pharmacists taking part in the Pharmacy First initiatives to supply medicines for earache, sore throat and urinary tract infections.¹⁵