Midlands & East (Central Midlands)
Charter House
Parkway
Welwyn Garden City
AL8 6JL
Email: england.pharmacy-athsm@nhs.net
Direct line: 01138 248830
November 2015
TO : ALL COMMUNITY PHARMACY CONTRACTORS IN
BEDFORDSHIRE, HERTFORDSHIRE, LUTON, MILTON KEYNES and
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Dear Colleague,
Health Promotion Campaign November 2015 – Antibiotic Awareness
As you know participation in Health Promotion Campaigns is an important part of the Terms of
Service for Community Pharmacy Contractors.
The Health Promotion Campaign for November focuses on Antibiotic Awareness to coincide
with European Antibiotics awareness day on 18th November 2015 and World antibiotic
awareness week which runs from 16th to 22nd November 2015. The campaign will run for the
whole of November 2015.
Both healthcare professionals and other pharmacy team members can sign up to make a
pledge to be antibiotic guardians here: http://antibioticguardian.com/
Further resources and materials to promote the key messages about the importance of
antibiotic stewardship can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/european-antibiotic-awareness-day-resources
Antibiotic Awareness
This campaign focuses on the responsible use of antibiotics. Pharmacists and their staff will
want to make patients aware that requesting and/or taking antibiotics for the wrong reasons
such as against colds or flu will provide no benefit and will only increase antibiotic resistance.
Those taking antibiotics should also be reminded of the importance of the correct use of
antibiotics; to take the correct dose at the right time and for the correct duration. The target
audience is all patients. Please share this information with all your pharmacy staff.
The aim of the campaign is to make people more aware of how to get the right treatment for
common illnesses such as colds and coughs without encouraging antibiotic resistance and to
use antibiotics properly. There is a common misconception amongst the general public that the
person becomes resistant to the antibiotic rather than the bacteria.
Key Messages – general
• Antibiotics are essential medicines for treating bacterial infections in both humans and
animals.
• Antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at an increasing rate.
• Bacteria can adapt and find ways to survive the effects of an antibiotic. They become
‘antibiotic resistant’, so that the antibiotic no longer works. The more you use an antibiotic, the
more bacteria become resistant to it.
• It is important we use antibiotics in the right way, the right drug, at the right dose, at the right
time, and for the right duration to slow down the development of antibiotic resistance.
• There are very few new antibiotics in the development pipeline, which is why it is important we
use our existing antibiotics wisely and make sure these life-saving medicines continue to stay
effective for ourselves and future generations.
• Many antibiotics are prescribed and used for mild infections when they don’t need to be. All
colds and most coughs, sinusitis, otitis media (earache) and sore throats often get better without
antibiotics.
Campaign materials
Poster and leaflets are available electronically at the following link:
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/ARC/Pages/eaad-toolkits.aspx
New for 2015 is a leaflet aimed specifically at community pharmacies entitled ‘Treating your
infection: leaflet for community pharmacy’.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/antibiotic-awareness-resources-treating-yourinfection-leaflets
Please print / order publications you feel appropriate for your patients and customers.
Posters should be prominently displayed in all pharmacies or displayed on pharmacy websites
and the patient resources will support your health promotional message and interventions.
Monitoring and outcomes
It is important that you complete and return your data collection forms with the number of
interventions provided to the public. Completed forms for each of the campaigns for 2015-16
should be retained at the pharmacy. The summary sheet should be completed following all the
2015-16 year’s campaigns and sent to NHS England Midlands & East (Central Midlands) by
email: england.pharmacy-athsm@nhs.net by the end of March 2016.
Without submission of the form there is no confirmation that a pharmacy has participated in the
public health campaigns which forms part of the essential services. Furthermore, the
information you provide enables us to evaluate the success of the campaigns we run.
Pharmacies are advised to also retain their own copies as evidence for contractual monitoring.
Please do not hesitate to contact one of the Team using the email above if you have any further
questions relating to this campaign.
Thank you for your support and full and enthusiastic participation in this important and
mandatory element of the pharmacy contract.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Pauline Walton
Lead Pharmacist
cc
Jane Bray
Support Contract Manager
Helen Musson
Gerald Zeidman
Anne-Marie King
Richard Jones
Andy Cooke
Sue Russell
Paul Larkin
Sue Smith
Janet Corbett
Jim McManus
Dr Muriel Scott
Executive Officer, Hertfordshire LPC
Chief Officer
Beds LPC
Vice Chair, Northants & MK LPC
Head of Prescribing & Meds Management (Luton CCG)
Head of Prescribing & Meds Management (Bedfordshire CCG)
Lead Pharmacist (ENHerts CCG)
Lead Pharmacist (Herts Valleys CCG)
Head of Prescribing & Meds Management (Nene & Corby CCGs)
Associate Director Transformation & Delivery (Milton Keynes CCG)
Director of Public Health – Hertfordshire County Council
Director of Public Health – Central Bedfordshire Council & Bedford Borough Council
Gerry Taylor
Director of Public Health – Luton Borough Council