Bayswood Care Supports AMR Awareness Week
At Bayswood Care Group we understand the importance of a clean and safe environment for our residents. However, we are conscious that an overuse of prescribed antibiotics and over sterilisation can create Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
The World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign to raise awareness and understanding of AMR and promote best practices among One Health stakeholders to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. WAAW is celebrated from 18-24 November every year.
The theme for WAAW 2023 will remain "Preventing antimicrobial resistance together", as in 2022. AMR is a threat to humans, animals, plants and the environment. It affects us all.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says, ‘… this year's theme calls for cross-sectoral collaboration to preserve the effectiveness of antimicrobials. To effectively reduce AMR, all sectors must use antimicrobials prudently and appropriately, take preventive measures to decrease the incidence of infections and follow good practices in disposal of antimicrobial contaminated waste.’
The care sector needs to play its part in limiting AMR. Bayswood Care’s Quality & Compliance Manager, Adam Purnell, says, ‘AMR is undoubtedly a delicate balance between safeguarding the health of the residents across all our four homes, while understanding that prescribing antibiotics for minor ailments is no longer seen as a sensible solution. Our senior clinicians are involved in the conversations about AMR internally and we intend to take a sensible approach to this issue. This includes the accurate reporting and logging of symptoms on occasions we liaise with doctors and external medics to help remedy a whole range of ailments – from cold viruses through to more serious infections.’
It is clear that the days of a ‘one size fits all’ approach to prescribing drugs to counter ailments are long gone – the notion of Antimicrobial Resistance is an important consideration in the clinical approach taken by Bayswood Care.
Article by Kelly Farrington