Doctors ‘prescribe more antibiotics in poorer areas’

The widening North-South divide extends to antibiotic prescriptions, according to new research.
Study shows 'widening deprivation gap in antibiotic prescriptions'Study shows 'widening deprivation gap in antibiotic prescriptions'
Study shows 'widening deprivation gap in antibiotic prescriptions'

Greater London doctors prescribe 21 per cent fewer antibiotics than the North, according to the study by York-based Antibiotic Research UK and Exasol.

The UK’s most deprived area, Clacton-on-Sea, in contrast, has antibiotic prescribing rates of almost twice the national average.

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Experts say antibiotics have been so overprescribed over the past 50 years that the bacteria they are meant to treat have gradually evolved to become resistant.

Prescriptions per head peaked in 2012 with a total of 3.8 million in England and have since fallen 5.6 per cent.

But worryingly, in parts of Yorkshire, some areas are prescribing more antibiotics per head in 2015 than they were in 2011.

York was prescribing 58.6 per cent of the national average in 2011 and 75.7 per cent in 2015, the second highest rise in England.

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Other areas which have seen a rise include Bolsover, Chesterfield and Barnsley.

Leeds, Doncaster and Bradford all showed a fall.

Antibiotic Research UK, which was set up last year, is trying to find new solutions to the most dangerous bacteria called Gram-negatives, including E.coli, which the UK’s Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies has warned could “finish” modern medicine.

Data, which was released by the Government’s Health and Social Care Information Centre for five years from August 2010 to July 2015 and analysed by a scientist working for EXASOL, also revealed seasonal variation in antibiotic prescribing - with 59 per cent more prescriptions in December than August “with no obvious reason.”

Dr Colin Garner from Antibiotic Research UK said they would expect to see only a minor increase in winter months as colds and flus could lead to bacterial infections due to suppressed immune systems. He said: “One explanation is that patients are requesting antibiotics for simple coughs and colds and GPs are acceding to these requests despite the advice they have been given not to prescribe antibiotics for viral conditions such as these.”