Antibiotics Stewardship Programme – A key project in FV’s quality management

The Antibiotics Stewardship Programme, one of FV’s four key quality management projects, was officially deployed in July 2017.

In early 2016, the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Vietnam issued the Manual on Management of The Use of Antibiotics in Hospitals. In its newly released 6th Edition Standards 2017, Joint Commission International (JCI) also included a new accreditation standard that requires accredited hospitals to develop and implement the Antibiotics Stewardship Programme. FV Hospital has been developing its Antibiotics Stewardship Programme since 2015, constantly adjusting and updating it to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Health and JCI criteria. Antibiotics Stewardship as JCI standards The Antibiotics Stewardship Programme (ASP) has been implemented to make sure that antibiotics use at FV Hospital is careful, appropriate and optimal. It helps to ensure that the patients who need antibiotic treatment can use antibiotic medicines in the right way, at the right time, and at the right dose and to the right deadline to minimise antibiotics resistance and the spread of bacteria. To realise this programme, FV is applying several solutions, such as the Antibiotic time-out and the Mandatory indication for all antibiotic prescriptions. An antibiotic time-out prompts a reassessment of the continuing need and choice of antibiotics when the clinical picture is clearer and more diagnostic information is available. Antibiotics are often started empirically in hospitalised patients while diagnostic information is being obtained. However, doctors often do not revisit the selection of the antibiotic after more clinical and laboratory data become available. Under this intervention, doctors must review the appropriateness of all antibiotics within 48 to 72 hours after initial orders, including considering to switch from intravenous (IV) to oral formulation. Mandatory indication for all antibiotic prescriptions is an intervention which requires doctors to write or state the indications (reason for use) for all antibiotic orders and prescriptions. World Antibiotics Awareness Week 2017 World Antibiotics Awareness Week is held every year to raise awareness of the use of antibiotics in the community. During this week, as doctors and pharmacists strongly recommend that patients don’t use antibiotics without prescription, medical staff can also contribute by offering information through direct consultations or via media in the hospital such as TV screens, information boards, leaflets and the website. World Antibiotic Awareness Week at FV hospital this year is scheduled to take place from November 13 to 19, 2017.  The objectives of the event are to enhance awareness about global antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, and prevent the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. The World Health Organisation (WHO) insists that the unreasonable use of antibiotics is the global issue. If we don’t have enough control measures, our planet risks returning to the period of antibiotics absence. Antibiotic resistance creates complications in medicine as it prolongs the life of pathogenic bacteria, leading to an increased hospitalisation rate and mortality rate, and a greater economic burden.