In my opinion there are 7 key areas for implementation in this guideline:
1. The Antimicrobial Stewardship Team
2. Antimicrobial Stewardship Groups
3. Education
4. Empirical Antimicrobial Guidelines
5. The Antimicrobial Ward Round
6. Audit
7. Pathology Services
The guideline is 5 pages long so I've created a PDF called "Antimicrobial Stewardship Guideline" which you can download. There is no copyright on this information so if you find it useful please feel free to use and distribute it as required.
Is THIS guideline fit for purpose?
I’ve done my best to specify the requirements I believe are necessary for good antimicrobial stewardship in the context of a SMART guideline but do you agree? Would you do anything differently? Do you think this is too prescriptive to healthcare providers or do you think clear instruction which avoids words like “consider” and “could” is clearer and more helpful? Antimicrobial stewardship is often imposed upon clinical services in a manner suggesting it is the “antibiotic police”. I believe clinical specialities should be embracing this opportunity to develop their expertise and become champions of infection within their speciality. I believe a general surgeon should be the expert in peritonitis, an orthopaedic surgeon in joint infections, a neurologist in meningitis and a cardiologist in endocarditis etc. I do not feel microbiologists should be telling others how to manage common infections within their speciality, although I love helping when it comes to the weird and wonderful. But what do you think? Let me know.