We (Julie Screaton (Director, London and the South East) and Professor Ged Byrne (Director of Education & Quality, Health Education England working across the North West)) are pleased to let you know that our survey of higher education institutions about embedding national antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship competences into curricula is now available to access on our website.
The antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship (AMPS) competences, produced jointly by the Government's expert advisory group for antimicrobial resistance and healthcare acquired infections (ARHAI), and Public Health England were published in 2013. Implementing these competences forms a key aspect of ‘Key area 3’ of the Government's five year strategy for tackling antimicrobial resistance - improving professional education, training and public engagement to improve clinical practice and promote wider understanding of the need for more sustainable use of antimicrobials. The antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship (AMPS) competences can provide clarity for regulators, education providers and professional bodies to inform standards, guidance and the development of training.
Undergraduate students have expressed interest in receiving more education about antimicrobials, especially about their multidisciplinary use. This survey asked higher education institutions about their awareness of the competencies, and how they had embedded them into their courses.
The results showed:
- From the 45 universities that submitted information for a total of 100 health-related course 86% of universities confirmed they were aware of the national AMPS competencies.
- Implementation of the five domains of the AMPS competencies showed that 91% of courses had embedded statements on infection prevention and control, 75% of courses for antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobials, 66.3% of courses for the prescribing of antimicrobials, 62% of courses for the prescribing of antimicrobials and 40% of courses for monitoring and learning.
- Embedding of the AMPS competencies per professional group showed an average of 90% implementation for medicine, 82% for dentistry, 81% for pharmacy, 76% for independent non-medical prescribing courses, 52% for midwifery, 46% for nursing and 40.8% for allied health professionals.
We welcome the findings of this initial survey and hope best practices can be shared between higher health education institutions to enhance the adoption of these competencies. It has also highlighted the importance of non-medical prescribing courses adopting these competencies.
We would encourage you to:
- implement the recommendations in this report on behalf of your organisations
- raise awareness of these results within your organisations and networks
- provide system leadership as individuals, groups and organisations in enhancing the adoption and implementation of the antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship (AMPS) competences within your academic and health networks and organisations, at both undergraduate and post-graduate level.
For further information please contact Mohamed Sadak (Clinical Lead and Programme Manager, Antimicrobial Resistance and Sepsis).
