@article { , title = {Antimicrobial stewardship activities in hospitals in Ireland and the United Kingdom: a comparison of two national surveys.}, abstract = {Best practice guidelines recommend that a multidisciplinary Antimicrobial Management Team (AMT) conduct antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) activities in hospitals. In order to continuously improve AMS activities in Irish hospitals it is important to benchmark performance by comparison with other countries. The purpose of this study was to compare the membership of AMTs and AMS activities conducted in Irish and United Kingdom (UK) hospitals. The research used a postal questionnaire to determine the membership and activities of AMTs, which was issued to the specialist antimicrobial pharmacist or pharmacist in charge at all Irish Hospitals and all UK National Health Service Hospitals. The membership of AMTs and the extent of AMS activities conducted were compared between the countries. The response rates to the surveys were 73\% (n = 51) in Ireland and 33\% in the UK (n = 273). 57\% of Irish respondents reported having an AMT compared to 82\% in the UK (p < 0.001). Significantly more AMTs in the UK had a specialist antimicrobial pharmacist on the team (95\% UK, 69\% Ireland, p < 0.001). A higher proportion of Irish respondents reported measuring the overall volume of antimicrobial prescribing (Ireland 85\%, UK 72\%, p = 0.057). A higher proportion of UK respondents reported measuring the appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing (76\% UK, 58\% Ireland, p = 0.019) and the appropriateness of restricted antimicrobial prescribing (64\% UK, 52\% Ireland, p = 0.140). In conclusion, Irish and UK AMTs need to be supported to recruit and retain specialist antimicrobial pharmacists and to achieve higher rates of audit, prescription appropriateness review and feedback activities.}, doi = {10.1007/s11096-015-0114-3}, eissn = {2210-7711}, issn = {2210-7703}, issue = {5}, journal = {International journal of clinical pharmacy}, note = {COMPLETED -- Doc rec'd 25/8/2016 LM -- Chased 15/8/2016 LM -- File requested 14/4/2016 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Stewart, Derek -- Panel A}, pages = {776-781}, publicationstatus = {Published}, publisher = {Springer}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10059/1688}, volume = {37}, keyword = {Antibiotics, Antibiotic prescribing, Antimicrobial stewardship, Hospital pharmacy, Ireland, Survey, United Kingdom}, year = {2015}, author = {Fleming, Aoife and Tonna, Antonella and O'Connor, Síle and Byrne, Stephen and Stewart, Derek} }