The purpose of this study is to establish the impact of a pharmacist's recommendations regarding choice, dosing and duration of antibiotic therapy on quality and cost of antibiotic treatment on surgical wards.

Inappropriate or incorrect use of antibacterials exerts selection pressure on pathogens potentiating emergence of resistance, puts patients at risk for unnecessary adverse drug reactions and potentially prolongs the length of stay in hospital thus increasing healthcare costs.

In an effort to improve the quality of antibiotic drug therapy on surgical wards of a large university hospital, specific consulting by a clinical pharmacist was established.

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of pharmaceutical consulting on the quality and costs of antibiotic use in surgical wards.

Comparison:

Within a control period the current pattern of antibiotic use is monitored. During the intervention period, the impact of the interventions made by the clinical pharmacist on antibiotic use is examined. One ward serves as a parallel control group; no intervention is being made on this ward throughout this study.

Inclusion Criteria:

• female and male patients receiving antibiotics for a proven or suspected infection on designated surgical wards

Exclusion Criteria:

• patients under 18
• patients unable or unwilling to consent to their data being evaluated
• patients receiving antibiotics perioperatively as prophylaxis
• patients receiving antibiotics for less than 48hrs