Maggie Throup – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Maggie Throup on 2015-10-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will assess the (a) potential effect on the number of antibiotic and (b) potential change in annual prescription and dispensing costs prescriptions of using C-reactive protein testing for patients presenting with respiratory tract infections in primary care.

George Freeman

We have no plans to do so.

The UK Government is committed to tackling antimicrobial resistance. The UK Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, published in September 2013, proposed strong, cross-government action to manage this problem. The UK strategy recognises the central part diagnostics, like C-reactive protein tests, play in getting the right antibiotic drug to the right patient at the right time. A working group is actively looking at what can be done to improve diagnostic services.