Antibiotic Resources
Microguide to EOLAS Medical
Our antimicrobial guidelines have moved from MicroGuide to Eolas Medical. We are listed as:
"Lincolnshire ICB"
Download “Eolas Medical” from the App store or Google Play, and scan the QR code or use the alternative sign-up process with your email address.
If any concerns, or feedback, or seeking advice, please contact the EOLAS team (support@eolasmedical.com)
The primary care guidelines will also continue to be hosted on the PACE website as a PDF and are available here: Clinical Guidelines :: Lincolnshire Prescribing and Clinical Effectiveness
Lincolnshire Antibiotic Guidelines
Educational Material
Antimicrobial resistance | NHS England | Workforce, training and education: Educational materials and resources to help staff training on infection prevention and control, antimicrobial resistance, and stewardship.
e-Learning for Health (eLfH) antimicrobial resistance resources: Freely available learning sessions for all NHS health and social care staff – both clinical and non-clinical - in a variety of settings on management of various infections (covering urinary tract infections, sepsis, skin and soft tissue infections), infection prevention and control, antimicrobial resistance and stewardship and clinical and medical leadership.
The national antimicrobial stewardship plan can be viewed here; NHS Long Term Plan » Antimicrobial resistance
The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy - Saving Lives by Fighting Infection – this website contains lots of free e-learning for healthcare professionals as well as hosting events and webinars.
Other Data Sources
Open Prescribing has anonymised data on all GP surgeries published every month, and is free to access.
PrescQIPP (free registration) has various dashboards with AMS information, including novel data on current national workstreams such as 5 day vs 7 day course lengths. Course length information available here: Optimising antimicrobial duration metrics overview dashboard
NHS Futures hosts the Antimicrobial Resistance Programme, which is used as a site for local, regional and national colleagues to access guidance, updates and content relating to infection management and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and acts as a mechanism to share knowledge across the country. This can be accessed here: Antimicrobial Resistance Programme - FutureNHS Collaboration Platform (log in required)
Specific Searches
Our team is happy to try and faciliate specific data for practices on request, please get in touch with us via email.
OptimiseRx
We can provide a review of OptimiseRx rejection and acceptance messages which may highlight specific reasons for prescribing. This is available upon request.
Resources for Patients
“When should I worry?” – This provides information for parents about the management of respiratory tract infections and The Little Orange Book helps parents to manage common illnesses (produced by Newcastle Gateshead CCG)
Healthier Together is a website which is maintained by Hampshire Dorset and Isle of Wight, but has a national section which includes advice on common issues
TARGET includes various resources for clinicians, but also for patients, and their Patient Awareness leaflets can be a good way to initiate conversations.
Audits
Embedded below is an audit developed in collaboration with the ULHT AMS Consultant Pharmacist and AMS Group, for Lincolnshire. This audit is based on secondary care KPIs which have been adapted for use in primacy care by the AMS group.
Antimicrobial Stewardship Programme - Primary Care Antibiotics Audit
Specific primary care audits are currently undergoing development. Please contact us if there is a particular are you would like us to look at developing an audit pack for.
There are national audit packs available for specific conditions in primary care and these can be found via the Target website at the following address: Antibiotic stewardship tools, audits and other resources: Audit toolkits (rcgp.org.uk)
As part of previous enhanced schemes, we developed audits for co-amoxiclav and Quinolones. These are available here for practices to use: Lincolnshire ICB Co-Amoxiclav Antimicrobial Audit and Quinolone Audit. If you would like to identify your patients, there are pre built searches within the SystmOne clinical tree.
Improving Prescribing
- Be aware of changes in prescribing patterns, which may reflect the use of locums, new staff, or seasonal variation.
- Use the shortest effective course length for treatment. NICE now recommends 5-day courses for many infections where 7 days were previously used.
- Review COPD rescue packs for appropriateness (frequency of use, formulary choice)
- Check doxycycline courses (ensure correct loading dose and 4-day continuation rather than 5)
- Share learning, tips, and best practice with neighbouring practices and within your team.
- Share the PCN AMS quarterly pack with colleagues to support good stewardship.
- Carry out regular audits to review current prescribing practices.
- Ensure no hospital-only (RED) antibiotics are prescribed in primary care by mistake (as per the Lincolnshire Joint Formulary).
- Audit long-term and prophylactic antibiotic use to ensure it remains appropriate.
- If your data highlights areas for further review, please contact us—we’re happy to support further analysis.
- Consider using prescribing templates (e.g. Ardens) to support standardisation.
- Consider delayed/back-up prescriptions where clinically appropriate.
- Appoint an AMS champion within the practice if not already in place.
Finally, if you haven’t already done so, consider pledging to become an Antibiotic Guardian: https://antibioticguardian.com
TARGET Antibiotics Toolkit
TARGET: Treat Antibiotics Responsibly, Guidance, Education, Tools.
The toolkit is designed to be used by the whole primary care team within the GP practice or out of hours setting. It includes a range of resources that can each be used to support prescribers’ and patients’ responsible antibiotic use, helping to fulfil CPD and revalidation requirements.
To access the TARGET toolkit, please follow the link; TARGET Antibiotics Toolkit
The UK Sepsis Trust
The UK Sepsis Trust website provides clinical support, information and professional resources.
Access the website here; sepsistrust.org