Awareness of a hospital's antibiotic policy can be improved

doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7257.384

BMJ 2000;321:384 ( 5 August )

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Awareness of a hospital's antibiotic policy can be improved

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Nightingale et al examined prescribing in a specialist unit.¹ The problem for most of us with medical staff prescribingfor patients scattered throughout a hospital is ensuring thatthe rule base is available at the time and place ofprescription.

Although the division of medicine's antibiotic policy in Bristol was sent to all medical staff, an audit of the use of antibioticsshowed considerable deviation from the guidelines. Prescribersdid not question the concept of an antibiotic policy and werevery willing to adhere to it in principle. Nevertheless, a proportionof the house staff either could not locate a copy of the policyat the time and place of prescription or denied the existenceof suchinformation.

Recirculating the policy in its original form on three A4 sheets was thought to have little chance of success as the paperswould once again be lost within the mass . . . [Full text of this article]

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