Rochdale GPs offer blood test to tell if patients really need antibiotics

Dr Gupta from Pennine Surgery, Littleborough with patient having a fingerprick blood test to tell whether she needs antibiotics to treat her symptoms

A blood test is being introduced to GP practices in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale to help decide if patients really need antibiotics to treat their symptoms.

The new system is being rolled out by Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (HMR CCG), which is the first CCG in Manchester to offer the test to patients on this scale. It enables healthcare professionals to perform a fingerprick blood test on patients who visit the practice with a respiratory infection such as a chesty cough.

Test results are available within minutes and these can help GPs determine whether a patient's infection is caused by bacteria and needs to be treated with antibiotics, or if the infection is caused by a virus which will not respond to antibiotics. The blood test assesses levels of C-reactive Protein (CRP) - a biological indicator of bacterial infection.

Prescribing antibiotics when they are not necessary can lead to antibiotic resistance - a situation when the bugs that cause infections are able to resist the antibiotics used to treat them.

Antibiotic resistance has serious consequences. Antibiotics may become less likely to work in the future and common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades may once again cause serious illness or lead to fatalities in elderly patients or those with weakened immune systems.

Dr Keith Pearson, Head of Medicines Optimisation at HMR CCG, said: "CRP testing helps ensure that antibiotics are prescribed for those patients who really need them and we are proud to be leading the way on this in Greater Manchester and offering the test to our local population.

“Taking antibiotics when you do not need them means they are less likely to work for you in the future and I would urge local people to trust their doctor’s advice regarding the best appropriate treatment for their ailments this winter.

“Antibiotics can help to treat serious bacterial infections such as pneumonia, meningococcal meningitis and sepsis and they are used to keep infection at bay during chemotherapy, caesarean sections and other surgery.

"Antibiotics are not effective against viral infections like most colds and flu, and most sore throats or ear infections - conditions which are very common in winter and can be treated with over the counter remedies available from your local pharmacy.”

Dr Pearson added: “It is estimated that 5,000 deaths are caused every year in England because antibiotics no longer work for some infections – 13 people every day. That is why it is so important for us to slow antibiotic resistance. To keep antibiotics working always take a healthcare professional’s advice; this can be a doctor, nurse or pharmacist.”