There are a number of key resources available to help ensure patients with self-limiting infections receive consistent messages from GPs, nurses and pharmacists.

The TARGET antibiotics toolkit is the national antimicrobial stewardship toolkit for primary care and was developed by Public Health England in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners and several other professional bodies.

TARGET stands for: Treat Antibiotics Responsibly, Guidance, Education, Tools. It is a central resource designed to be used by the whole primary care team with a focus on safe, effective, appropriate and responsible antibiotic prescribing.

The toolkit includes a patient information leaflet, ‘Treating your infection’. This leaflet can be used during consultations and given to patients to explain why they have not been prescribed antibiotics.

The leaflet outlines the usual duration of common viral infections, self-care advice and also when to seek help. Information on why antibiotics should only be taken when they are really needed is also provided. Initially developed for GP practices, the leaflet has been adapted for use within community pharmacy and is freely available via the RCGP website. The leaflet is now part of the Help Us Help You campaign.

When advising on self-limiting conditions, it may be helpful to think about the 6Rs in the RPS Antimicrobial Stewardship Quick Reference Guide and provide:

• Reassurance – reassure the patient about the infection
• Reasons – explain why antimicrobials are not normally necessary
• Relief options – suggest suitable over-the-counter preparations for symptom relief (e.g. paracetamol for pain
• Realistic times – give a realistic time when the patient can expect to start feeling better (see table 1)
• Reinforcement – provide written information to support advice given (e.g. the TARGET community pharmacy leaflet, which will be delivered to all pharmacies as part of the Help Us Help You campaign 2018
• Rescue information – i.e. when to seek further help or advice

In 2017 a new national campaign, Keep Antibiotics Working, was launched by PHE to reduce public expectations for antibiotics and help ease pressure on healthcare professionals to prescribe them. A new campaign went live from October 23 to December 16 last year and featured advertising on TV, radio, digital and social media, in addition to PR. Free resources were available to use in local awareness campaigns.