Antibiotic stewardship: courses for amoxicillin 500mg greater than 15 capsules by all Sub-ICB Locations
Why it matters: The most common indication for the prescribing of amoxicillin in primary care is the treatment of respiratory-tract infections. NICE guidance recommends for example that, where amoxicillin is used for cough, the dose is 500mg three times a day for 5 days. Where greater than 5 days treatment is prescribed for these indications, this increases both the unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics, as well as cost. There are however some indications which require higher doses/longer durations of amoxicillin for example, treatment of H. pylori.
NHS England National Medicines Optimisation Opportunities for 2023/24 identify use of the shortest effective antibiotic courses as an area for improvement, and suggests that 75% of amoxicillin prescriptions should be 5-day courses by March 2024.
Description: Proportion of prescription items of amoxicillin 500mg capsules with quantity greater than 15 capsules
Explore:
Tagged as: Antimicrobial Stewardship, Standard, Infections, NICE, National medicines optimisation opportunities (or browse all measures)
Sub-ICB Locations are ordered by mean percentile over the past six months. Each chart shows the results for the individual Sub-ICB Location, plus deciles across all Sub-ICB Locations in the NHS in England.
View measure for NHS England combined →
Fetching data...