title: Passing the baton to pharmacists and nurses: New models of antibiotic stewardship for South Africa?
abstract: The optimisation of antibiotic use to maximise patient care and safety through antibiotic stewardship forms one of the cornerstones of the global response to antibiotic resistance. Stewardship efforts in low- and middle-income countries are challenged by lack of healthcare professionals trained in infection. Therefore, in resource-poor settings, the traditional model of infection specialist-led stewardship may be impractical, requiring new models to be developed. A recent South African study across 47 Netcare hospitals nationally highlighted the role of pharmacists in this regard, proving that non-specialised pharmacists can drive a prospective audit, feedback collaborative strategy and a range of improvement science principles to reduce antibiotic consumption by the same levels as that documented in high-resource, infection specialist-led stewardship programmes. This editorial discusses the hidden opportunities to engage non-infection specialists in programmes to combat antibiotic resistance, expanding the cadres of healthcare professionals to lead stewardship programmes.
authors.affiliation: Ampath National Laboratory Services, Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa; Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine, Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. brinka@ampath.co.za.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brink
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van den Bergh
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mendelson
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Richards
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D054539:Medication Therapy Management / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D010346:Patient Care Management / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses'; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012041:Regional Medical Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013019:South Africa
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents