TARGET Antibiotics Toolkit
What is TARGET?
TARGET stands for: Treat Antibiotics Responsibly, Guidance, Education, Tools
The toolkit helps influence prescribers’ and patients’ personal attitudes, social norms and perceived barriers to optimal antibiotic prescribing. It includes a range of resources that can each be used to support prescribers’ and patients’ responsible antibiotic use, helping to fulfil CPD and revalidation requirements.
Who is it for, and how can it be used?
Using the resources in the TARGET Antibiotics Toolkit will enable primary care organisations to demonstrate compliance with the Health and Social Care Act 2008: Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.
The toolkit is designed to be used by the whole primary care team within the GP practice or out of hours setting. These resources can be used flexibly, either as standalone materials or as part of an integrated package. We do recommend that ALL resources are used if this is feasible.
Leaflets to share with patients
Antibiotic prescribing data
Fingertips
The Fingertips AMR local indicators provide CCG and practice level data to enable action planning. This information can be found here.
PrescQIPP
PrescQIPP are an NHS funded not-for-profit organisation that supports quality, optimised prescribing for patients. They produce evidence-based resources and tools for primary care commissioners, and provide a platform to share innovation across the NHS. Access PrescQIPP here.
OpenPrescribing
Every month, the NHS in England publishes anonymised data about the drugs prescribed by GPs. But the raw data files are large and unwieldy, with more than 600 million rows. OpenPrescribing makes it easier for GPs, managers and everyone to explore - supporting safer, more efficient prescribing.
Audit toolkits and action planning
Templates for accurate and easy auditing, including Read codes, current guidance and action plans.
Go to Audit Toolkits
Training resources
CPD training resources to help fulfil CPD and revalidation requirements, including group training presentations and e-learning modules
Go to Training resources
National Antibiotic Management Guidance
Resources for clinical and waiting areas
Self assessment checklist
Resources for commissioners
Background information about TARGET
Why develop the TARGET resources?
'No action today means no cure tomorrow' - Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director General, 2011
'Antimicrobial resistance poses a catastrophic threat. If we don't act now, any one of us could go into hospital in 20 years for minor surgery and die because of an ordinary infection that can't be treated by antibiotics.' - Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, March 2013
In the UK, 80% of antibiotic prescribing occurs in primary care, with over half for respiratory tract infections. The inappropriate use of antibiotics is related to bacterial resistance, so using antimicrobials responsibly should help control it
TARGET was developed by the Antimicrobial Stewardship in Primary Care (ASPIC) collaboration which was established in 2009 and includes:
• Public Health England PHE
• Royal College of General Practitioners RCGP
• Department of Health DoH
• British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy BSAC
• Care Quality Commission CQC
• British Infection Association BIA
• National Prescribing Centre NPC
• Infection Prevention Society IPS and British Paediatric Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases Group BPAIIG
• Royal College of Nursing RCN
• Health Protection Scotland
• Public Health Wales and Northern Ireland
• NHS Information Centre
• interested GPs, pharmacists and microbiologists
To leave feedback, please contact the CIRC team.