Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) workforce survey

Closed 8 Jul 2022

Opened 23 May 2022

Overview

This survey collects data from NHS organisations in order to establish capacity and capability of staff working in designated antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) roles.

There are 2 sets of questions: one for NHS Trusts and current or legacy Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs); another one for Integrated Care Systems senior leadership teams. A question on the first page will direct you to the appropriate set for your organisation.

Context

Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance - the UK’s five year National Action Plan 2019-2024 – includes a commitment that the UK will assess current and future workforce needs for strong IPC and antimicrobial stewardship across health and care settings; and develop future workforce targets based on the results of this assessment.

As part of the assessment of current workforce needs, we have developed this survey to begin to quantify the capacity and capability of the existing workforce for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in different healthcare settings across the NHS in England.

We need your help to gather accurate information on the number of healthcare staff working in antimicrobial stewardship roles, the time they have available for stewardship work and the training they have received, in order to create a well-informed plan for future workforce recruitment and training for this specialty and to make AMS roles more enjoyable and rewarding.

Why your views matter

Who should take part?

We are hoping for a 100% survey response from NHS organisations in England to provide a comprehensive picture of AMS resources in Integrated Care Systems, NHS provider organisations (acute hospital trusts, mental health trusts and community trusts) and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).  Future work may include Primary Care Networks, Social Care settings and independent sector organisations.

How long will it take?

The survey will take no longer than 10 minutes to complete (ideally at a meeting of the antimicrobial stewardship team) and we thank you sincerely in advance for your participation.

Who should complete the survey?

It would be best if the survey was completed by the individual nominated as the lead for antimicrobial stewardship in your organisation. If there is no-one nominated as the lead for antimicrobial stewardship, it should be completed by the most appropriate member of staff with responsibility for control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) such as the Director of Infection Prevention and Control (DIPC), or with responsibility for medicines optimisation (e.g. chief pharmacist).

What about privacy?

Contact information is requested in order to share the results of the survey with participants and to establish a contacts database for NHS staff working in AMS lead roles to facilitate efficient and timely communication of critical updates and alerts, for dissemination of important information regarding policy and practice, and to share AMS resources with colleagues in patient-facing AMS roles. Information will be kept securely on NHS England servers in a password-protected file and will not be published on the internet.

If you prefer to submit a Word version of your response, a copy of the questions has been made available below. On completion, please email to england.amrprescribingworkstream@nhs.net

NHS England and NHS Improvement Publication Approval Reference: PAR1453

 

Areas

  • All Areas

Audiences

  • Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • NHS Trusts

Interests

  • Workforce