GPs feel pressurised to prescribe unnecessary antibiotics, survey finds
BMJ 2014; 349 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g5238 (Published 20 August 2014) Cite this as: BMJ 2014;349:g5238- Andrew Cole
- 1London
Many GPs feel under pressure to prescribe antibiotics even when they may not be the correct treatment, and some patients continue to expect antibiotics as a matter of right, two parallel surveys from the Longitude Prize charity have found.
The surveys of more than 1000 GPs and a similar number of patients were commissioned by Nesta, the organisation behind the £10m (€12.5m; $16.6m) Longitude Prize, which the public voted to award to finding smarter ways of using existing antibiotics, in the face of growing resistance and a dearth of new types.1
The survey of GPs found that 55% felt under pressure—mainly from patients—to prescribe antibiotics, even …
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