CVS’ antimicrobial stewardship programme to focus on three areas

CVS Group reports that its antimicrobial stewardship programme is to concentrate on three focus areas to help reduce the development of drug-resistant pathogens. The three areas were selected following a survey of colleagues and a discussion day with a 'diverse group of colleagues' to identify the highest impact areas:  

• Collating the evidence and understanding to support responsible antibiotic prescribing and infection control processes – for example, CVS has introduced a number of improvement projects including with the University of Bristol to increase the responsible use of antimicrobials in three common conditions: otitis externa, acute (haemorrhagic) diarrhoea and cat bite abscesses.

• Cultivating a culture where tidiness, cleanliness and hygiene was an important part of everyone’s role in infection control – for example, CVS’ Nursing Committee has reviewed its infection control guidelines in relation to deep cleaning, swabbing and interpretation of lab results. A Glo Germ project helps colleagues to understand how comprehensive their cleaning is – by using a product that casts a revealing glow when exposed to ultraviolet light.

• Supporting client education and communication of AMS processes or practice policies – for example talking to clients about good stewardship and the hazards of reusing prescribed antibiotics for a new or recurrent condition or unsafe disposal.  

Angie Rayner, quality improvement director, comments: “Antimicrobial stewardship is complicated, so we have taken our colleagues’ best ideas and simplified it down to three areas. We are also using data to support our decision-making and we will continue to share this evidence to support best practice infection control.”