Strengthening its antibiotic policy to promote rational use of antibiotics, Government Omandurar Medical College Hospital has constituted a ‘Hospital Antibiotic Audit Committee’. It has devised an antibiotic prescription audit proforma, which would be filled out whenever an antibiotic, especially a high end one, was prescribed.
The dean of the hospital, R. Jayanthi said the committee would comprise heads of the departments of medicine, surgery, microbiology, orthopedics, gynecology and paediatrics.
An antibiotic prescription audit proforma has been developed. The details of provisional diagnosis, antimicrobial generic, indication, rationale, status of culture sensitivity report, previous antibiotic regimen, if any, should be recorded, he added.
“Whenever an antibiotic, especially a high-end one, is being prescribed, it has to be filled. Doctors have to fill in the details of the patient, the nature of the illness, why a particular antibiotic was chosen, whether it was followed by a culture report. supported or it is empirical, prescribed for how many days and whether alternative medicines were available,” she explained.
At the end of the month, it will be examined by the committee, she said, adding, “We audit the mortality rate every month. During this audit, the Infection Control Committee gives its report. Now, the antibiotic committee will also present its report for discussion with all the physicians and surgeons and see if there are areas for improvement.
“If clinical results are available, they will also see whether the doctor was right in choosing the antibiotic. We want to see that antibiotics are not used indiscriminately. This is a step towards stopping antimicrobial resistance ,” said Dr. Jayanthi.
Through the Hospital Infection Control Committee, the antibiotic policy was circulated to various departments as a part of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week. It emphasized a few points, including exercising extreme caution and clinical discretion before prescribing antibiotics, and careful adherence to the dosage and duration of the drug.
It also underlined the need to sensitize the patients and their family attendants about the importance of taking the right dose of antibiotics for the prescribed duration and discourage over-the-counter purchase of antibiotics.