Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee - Terms of Reference
Objectives
The objective of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee is to promote the optimal use of
antimicrobial therapy. Its aims include:
1. Promotion of safe, effective and cost-effective antimicrobial therapy.
2. Selection of agents to minimise the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.
3. Promotion of optimal dosing, administration, and monitoring of antimicrobial therapy.
The impact on patient care and safety is always considered in discussions and decisions.
Roles and responsibilities
The Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee's responsibilities are to:
1. Make decisions free of industry influence, and potential conflicts of interest must be
declared by all members.
2. Oversee the Antimicrobial Stewardship program for X hospital.
3. Support and guide the activities of the Antimicrobial Stewardship team, who provide
pre-prescription advice and conduct post-prescription review.
4. Maintain formulary restriction and approval systems that include restricting broad-
spectrum antimicrobials to patients in whom their use is clinically justified.
5. Oversee review, develop and implement clinical guidelines for antimicrobial treatment
and prophylaxis that align with the national guidelines.
6. Develop and implement interventions and educational strategies for medical officers,
pharmacists and other clinical employees on appropriate antimicrobial prescribing
and monitor outcomes.
7. Review antibiograms or summaries of local resistance profiles. These may be whole
hospital and/or unit-based as required.
8. Ensure antimicrobial stewardship process and outcome indicators are measured and
reported to the hospital executive and relevant committees.
9. Review performance including through:
annual review of the Antimicrobial Prescribing Procedure and List of
Antimicrobial Restrictions;
annual review of the Terms of Reference of the Antimicrobial Stewardship
Committee;
annual audit of appropriateness of antimicrobial prescribing hospital-wide;
monitoring of compliance with the antimicrobial restriction procedure; and
review and monitoring of trends in antimicrobial utilisation and identification of
target areas for in-depth evaluation and intervention.
Membership
The members of the committee are:
1. Antimicrobial Stewardship Physician (Chair)
2. Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacist (Secretary)
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3. Infectious Diseases Physician
4. Microbiology Registrar
5. Infection Prevention and Surveillance Service Representative
6. Intensive Care Unit Physician
7. Nurse Unit Manager
8. Nursing Educator
9. Executive Sponsor
10. General Surgery Physician
11. Consumer Representative
12. Information Technology Consultant
In the absence of the chair, the meeting will be chaired by the Infectious Diseases Physician.
Observers may attend committee meetings with the prior agreement of the chair.
Meetings
The Committee will meet at least 8 times a year and at any other time considered necessary.
A quorum for a meeting will be a majority of the members, noting that in committees with an
even number of members, this is half plus one. If at any time the number of members is less
than a quorum, the Committee may meet only for discussion purposes.
Reporting
This Committee reports to the Patient Safety Committee, Drug and Therapeutics Committee,
and Infection Prevention and Surveillance Committee.
Meetings of the Committee will be minuted, with the minutes being forwarded to the:
1. Patient Safety Committee
2. Drug and Therapeutics Committee
3. Infection Prevention and Surveillance Committee
Administrative Support
Administrative support for the committee will be from the Pharmacy Administration Assistant.
Committee Planning and Evaluation
At its first meeting of each calendar year, the Committee will:
1. Complete the annual Committee evaluation for the previous calendar year.
2. Identify its key result areas for the coming year.
3. Conduct a review of these Terms of Reference.
4. Forward its annual evaluation, key result areas and revised Terms of Reference to
the Patient Safety Committee, Drug and Therapeutics Committee, and Infection
Prevention and Surveillance Committee.
The Terms of Reference will be reviewed annually.
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Committee contact: X, Antimicrobial Stewardship Physician
Phone:
Email:
