ABSTRACT
Doctors are perceived as the primary decision makers in antimicrobial therapy, but prescribing decisions are influenced by the multidisciplinary team. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programs formalise interprofessional advice-giving. No studies capture the advice provided by pharmacists. This study aimed to describe the volume and nature of antimicrobial prescribing advice that healthcare professionals seek from hospital pharmacists. A prospective audit of antimicrobial-related advice requests received by pharmacists (n = 18) at an Australian public hospital was undertaken in July 2020. Antimicrobial advice was sought from 11 pharmacists on 300 occasions. Most requests (80%) were received by the AMS pharmacist. A mean (range) of 30 (17-40) requests per day was recorded and the AMS pharmacist received 24 (16-31) requests daily. Most requests came from the intensive care unit (22.1%), pharmacy (21.4%), and infectious diseases (17.1%). The AMS pharmacist was mostly contacted by consultants and pharmacists, and other pharmacists were contacted by registrars and junior medical officers. Despite COVID-19 adaptations, face-to-face interaction was most common. This audit demonstrates the value of an AMS pharmacist, and indicates the importance of face-to-face interactions and the formalisation of pharmacists' role in prescribing decision-making. Pharmacists provided antimicrobial advice daily to other healthcare professionals. Further research is required to provide insights into the barriers and enablers to effective advice-giving interactions.Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia.