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Key messages for professionals working at hospitals and other healthcare settings: managers/administrators, infectious disease specialists, infection prevention and control professionals, epidemiologists, prescribers, junior doctors and students, pharmacists, nurses, clinical microbiologists, and professionals in emergency departments, in intensive care units, and in long-term care facilities.

Up to a half of all antibiotic use in European hospitals is unnecessary or inappropriate. Promoting prudent antibiotic use is both a patient safety and a public health priority.

Antibiotic stewardship programmes, together with infection prevention and control practices, can increase patient safety and quality of care and reduce hospital costs across all services by improving how antibiotics are used, as well as by decreasing C. difficile infections and other adverse events

Infectious disease specialists can support the development and implementation of an antibiotic stewardship programme, promote local guidelines on managing infections, regularly train hospital prescribers on prudent antibiotic use and using antibiotics.

Using antibiotic guidance and attending educational rounds improve antibiotic prescribing. Documenting indication, drug choice, dose, route of administration and duration of treatment in the patient chart leads to better use of antibiotics.

Learn and apply all antibiotic use and infection prevention and control recommendations that are relevant to your area of specialisation

Compliance with formulary restrictions as well as pre-approval and post-authorisation requirements for specific antibiotics decreases the use of these antibiotics in intensive care unit settings

You are in a key position to improve antibiotic use by collaborating with the antibiotic stewardship team

Microbiologists can ensure that laboratory testing and antimicrobial susceptibility reporting follow treatment guidelines (including selective reporting), and include relevant comments on interpretation if needed.

Professionals in emergency departments should only start antibiotic treatment if there is evidence of a bacterial infection, avoid unnecessary antibiotic prophylaxis, ensure that cultures are taken before starting antibiotics