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Objectives To determine if the clinical indication and duration of antibiotics are documented on drug charts in 100% of patients. Review of antibiotics at 48 hours and action plan documented on drug chart and/or in patient notes in 100% of patients. Audit Standards: Start Smart then focus- antimicrobial stewardship toolkit for inpatient care settings as published by the UK Health Security Agency and adopted by University of North Midlands Hospital NHS Trust.1 Methods 1. Retrospective collation of data from medical prescription charts of patients admitted on the Children's Intensive Care Unit between September and December 2022. Inclusion Criteria: Patients admitted to the Children's Intensive Care Unit at Royal Stoke Hospital within the study timeframe. Patients on antibiotics while on admission. Results 65% of patient in the audit had the indication for intravenous antibiotics documented while 35% did not. 25% of patients had the duration of intravenous antibiotic prescriptions documented on the prescription chart while 50% of these patients did not have antibiotics duration documented on either the prescription chart or PDMS system. 55% of patients had clear documentation of a reason for extension of IV antibiotics duration and 30% of patients did not. Conclusion Some adherence with national standards was observed but with obvious room for improvement.2 With SMART and FOCUSED antibiotics prescribing, it is easier to achieve antimicrobial stewardship and reduce the emergence of antibiotics resistance. References https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/antimicrobial-stewardship-start-smart-then-focus/start-smart-then-focus-antimicrobial-stewardship-toolkit-for-inpatient-care-settings Cunney R, Kirrane-Scott M, Rafferty A, et al. 'Start smart': using front-line ownership to improve the quality of empiric antibiotic prescribing in a paediatric hospital BMJ Open Quality 2019;8:e000445. Doi: 10.1136/bmjoq-2018-000445.
Ukeje et al. (Tue,) studied this question.