Report of the Prescribing Subgroup of the Specialist Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance (SACAR) Jonathan Cooke * on behalf of the Prescribing Subgroup of SACAR

describes the coordination and outputs from the DH Pharmacy Initiative for promoting prudent use of antibiotics in hospitals. The production and dissemination of a template have supported this and have provided a format for acute hospitals to develop antimicrobial guidelines. Engagement with key stake-holders has enabled antimicrobial use and resistance to be highlighted as an important policy issue. Work with the Healthcare Commission has informed the development of high-level indicators that have been incorporated into national audits of acute hospitals and recommendations in a national report ‘The Best Medicine’. The development of a quantitative database of antimicrobial usage has been an important feature of this work. Three annual national multidisciplinary conferences have been orga-nized where work has been presented