RECENT figures have shown that the Greater Manchester town of Bury has managed to beat the national average when reducing the prescription of antibiotics.
It has been found that Bury’s decrease in antibiotic prescriptions at 8.63 per cent, outperforms the England average of 7.33 per cent, according to statistics released by NHS England.
A spokesperson for Bury Clinical Commissioning Group explained: “It is likely that the decrease is a joint effort between patients better understanding the use of antibiotics, and general practitioners not prescribing them for conditions that do not respond to them.”
Additionally, Bury has actively tried to reduce their antibiotic output, as the spokesperson added: “The Clinical Commissioning Group has been instrumental in helping to promote the messages to patients and general practitioners about appropriate use of antibiotics, which is slowly changing patients’ expectations of receiving antibiotics.
“Bury is also actively promoting self-care for patients with minor ailments and encouraging patients to seek advice and support from community pharmacies.”
The whole country is consciously trying to reduce the amount of antibiotics consumed by the public as the inappropriate use and over-prescribing of the drugs is causing the development of resistance, which can make many routine treatments become dangerous.
This is considered to be one of the biggest threats facing humans today, according to health professionals.
Cutting down the unnecessary use of antibiotics will help Bury residents, and the rest of the country, to slow down the development of antibiotic resistance and safeguard these drugs for more serious infections.
Dr Kiran Patel, general practitioner and chair of NHS Bury Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We are pleased our patients are starting to realise that antibiotics are not the answer to all their symptoms.
“Antibiotics do not work against viral infections such as colds, most coughs or sore throats. The best way to treat them is to drink plenty of fluids and to rest. If you need advice for your symptoms, please speak to a pharmacist first.”
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