EP-3 Quality improvement project analysing the impact on antimicrobial prescribing in a General Surgery department after introducing access to guidelines via a mobile phone app

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Abstract Introduction Antimicrobial prescribing forms a central pillar of treatment in surgical admissions. This project aimed to analyse the impact of increasing access to antimicrobial guidelines for doctors in a general surgical department via mobile and laptop apps. Prior to this guidelines were only available in a pdf format accessible via the trusts intranet. Method An initial audit of 238 antimicrobial prescription from 109 patients in the month of October 2020 was performed. The data was collected was compared against the antimicrobial stewardship NICE guidelines (NG 15 1.1.2.4). This showed that only 57% of antibiotic prescriptions were in line with the correct treatment guidelines. After discussion with the lead microbiology consultant and lead pharmacist, trust guidelines were introduced for the first time on the Micro-guide, made accessible to all doctors via the mobile app and laptops. Information was circulated within the surgical department via educational posters and a presentation. 6 months later we closed the audit look. We aimed to review whether increasing access via technological means would lead to greater standards of antimicrobial prescribing. Results Results following the increasing the access to guidelines significantly improved the accuracy of antibiotic prescriptions. Some improvement was also seen in the other parameters such as documentation of indication and duration of antibiotic prescriptions. Conclusion It is evident that improving access to trust guidelines via trusted mobile applications and trust laptops can facilitate improvement in antimicrobial stewardship standards and help slow the emergence of resistance in communities.