Why share PPS results?

The most important part of a PPS is sharing the results. Otherwise, no actions to improve prescribing will happen.

While using written reports to inform managers and policy makers about the results is essential to gain management support for change, engagement with clinicians is key to change behaviour around prescribing.

To encourage a whole team approach it is beneficial to share results at multi-professional meetings and this can be done informally at ward meetings or via hospital or directorate level audit meetings.

As well as sharing local data, it is also useful to show comparisons between wards within your own hospital or with other nearby hospitals as peer comparison is a useful enabler to facilitate change.

Remember to highlight success as well as identify areas for improvement and encourage discussion of how changing ward processes may help to improve prescribing.

Sharing PPS results is also an important opportunity to provide education for the clinical team on the local policy and other stewardship initiatives.

In this video, Alison Macdonald, Lead Antimicrobial Pharmacist, Inverness, Scotland shares her experience of PPS and how she engages clinicians to share the results.

Please note the video is shown here by kind permission of the University of Dundee (UoD) and was first used in the UoD and BSAC course Antimicrobial Stewardship: Managing Antibiotic Resistance which is also available on FutureLearn.

Before moving on to the next step, let us know in the comments what you think would be the most effective way to share PPS data.