R40 Response Accepted

Prudent antibiotic prescribing

Recommendation

Health Boards should ensure that the key principles of prudent antibiotic prescribing are adhered to and that implementation of policy is rigorously monitored by management.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Scottish Government published its response to the Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report on 18 June 2015, accepting all 75 recommendations and establishing an Implementation Group chaired by the Chief Nursing Officer (Scottish Government Response, June 2015).
- The Scottish Government's response outlined the HAI Taskforce's role in developing antimicrobial prescribing guidelines and the Controlling Antimicrobial Resistance in Scotland (CARS) programme, which monitors prescribing practices across NHS boards.
- The Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group (SAPG) provides national leadership on antimicrobial stewardship, including guidelines, monitoring, and reporting. NHS board antimicrobial management teams drive implementation locally.
- The HCAI Strategy 2023-2025 includes antimicrobial resistance as a key priority, with surveillance and stewardship programmes ensuring that prudent antibiotic prescribing is adhered to and monitored (Scottish HCAI Strategy 2023-2025 (https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-healthcare-associated-infection-hcai-strategy-2023-2025/)).
- ARHAI Scotland provides national surveillance data on antimicrobial resistance and prescribing patterns to support policy implementation.
Sources
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by Claude (Anthropic) on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The evidence above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.
Jurisdiction
Scotland
Response
Accepted
Accepted Scottish Government
18 Jun 2015

Section 2.1 of the Scottish Government's response emphasizes the major role of prudent antibiotic prescribing in HAI prevention and control. The HAI Taskforce addresses this by developing guidelines, including an antimicrobial prescribing policy for Scotland and the Scottish Management of Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan 2014-18. The Controlling Antimicrobial Resistance in Scotland Group was established to oversee activity and produce outcome measures, while the Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group works with NHS board antimicrobial management teams to maintain stewardship activities at national and local levels, ensuring policy implementation is monitored.

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Published Evidence

Published assessments of progress from inspectorates, select committees, official progress reports, and other sources. Source type badge indicates whether each assessment is independent or government self-reported.

Good Progress
01 Jan 2025
SAPG Other

SAPG provides comprehensive prudent antibiotic prescribing guidance. Hospital and community antimicrobial stewardship good practice recommendations published. National monitoring of prescribing trends continues.

View detailed findings

Prudent prescribing principles embedded in national guidance. SAPG has operated since 2008 with demonstrable improvements in prescribing patterns.

Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group - pruden… View Source
Source
Inquiry Vale of Leven Inquiry
Report The Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry Report 24 Nov 2014
View Source
Responsible Bodies
NHS Health Boards (Scotland) Primary
Themes & Tags
AMR and health inequalities data Disease outbreak surveillance Antibiotics Prescribing
Recommendation age 11.5 yrs
Last formal update 4000 days ago