Blood tests for patients to prove they need antibiotics

PATIENTS are being required to undergo blood tests to prove they need antibiotics, as part of a plan to tackle the rise of drug-resistant superbugs.

Under a pilot scheme covering nearly 250,000 people, those turning up to their GP with respiratory tract infections must take a fingerprick test and wait for the results – available in minutes – before being given the drugs.

The scheme is a response to demands from health officials for family doctors to curb antibiotic prescriptions, and it could form the template of new nationwide practice.

However, doctors’ leaders have warned against “indiscriminate” testing and said it may attract patients who would otherwise have self-treated, leading to more prescriptions.

Antibiotics are a useful treatment for many common ailments, such as bronchitis, but are useless in tackling viral conditions such as flu. Doctors often struggle to determine the underlying cause of a patient’s illness, meaning antibiotics are needlessly prescribed, building up resistance in the population.

Experts have said antibiotic resistance kills 5,000 people a year in the UK, and last year a Government-commissioned report warned the phenomenon risked returning medicine to the “dark ages” by rendering routine surgery unsafe.

GPS across 28 practices in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale will administer a test which determines whether or not antibiotics are necessary by assessing C-receptive protein (CRP) in the blood. Dr Keith Pearson, who is leading the scheme, said patients who refused to be tested may end up being denied antibiotics.

“CRP testing helps ensure that antibiotics are prescribed for those patients who really need them” he said.

“Taking antibiotics when you don’t need them means they are less likely to work for you in the future, and I’d urge local people to trust their doctor’s advice regarding the best appropriate treatment.”

He made the comments as Public Health England promotes a compaign urging patients not to bully their GPS into giving them antibiotics.

Research into the test, which can give results within minutes, has found that it can cut the number of antibiotic prescriptions by up to 10 million and save the NHS £56million a year.

The scheme was criticised by the British Medical Association, which said testing should be restricted to cases in which GPS “would otherwise have prescribed”.

Dr Andrew Green, from the union’s General Practice Committee, told Pulse: “If patient testing is used indiscriminately it might actually increase prescribing, and this will be exacerbated if the prospect of testing acts as a magnet to attract patients to our surgeries who otherwise would have selfcared.”