Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 22
22
Accepted
Inadequate diagnostic tests hinder clinicians from reducing inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing effectively.
Recommendation
Better use of diagnostic tools can reduce inappropriate prescribing.56 Diagnostic tools are those which can help diagnose what infection a patient has, thereby helping clinicians determine with accuracy whether a patient needs an antimicrobial treatment and, if so, which one.57 For example, diagnostic tests can check whether an infection is caused by bacteria or by a virus.58 DHSC told us that it wanted to make sure that people who need antibiotics get them, but only those that they need, and that people who do not need antibiotics do not get them, but the diagnostic tests available are not yet adequate to allow clinicians to make that really clear distinction.59
Government Response Summary
The government accepts the recommendation to improve diagnostic tools by Spring 2027, outlining £18 million in research investment, an infection diagnostics framework by 2027, and pilot schemes for point-of-care tests in primary care.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2027 4.2 The government is working to fulfil Outcome 6 of the NAP, which commits to cross- sector working to develop diagnostics as a tool to tackle AMR. DHSC, through National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), has invested over £18 million into research AMR diagnostics research. DHSC also funds the NIHR HealthTech Research Centres, which accelerate development of healthcare technologies, including diagnostics. 4.3 NHSE is streamlining diagnostic innovation through hosting the cross-sector ‘Moving Forwards Infection Diagnostics’ events series. Engagement will inform an ‘infection diagnostics framework’ by 2027, and the identification of target product profiles for diagnostics needed in the NHS. A rapid review pipeline to identify optimal tests within the market and assess how existing diagnostics can be optimised is also being produced. 4.4 NHSE has developed clinical pathways for Pharmacy First, which support pharmacists in treatment decisions, guiding appropriate antibiotic use or antibiotic-sparing. Pathways function as diagnostic tools, encompassing clinical decision-support tools and risk- stratification, and are already in daily use. Pilot schemes to gather evidence on clinical impact of point-of-care tests are being scoped for several primary care patient pathways, including community pharmacy, launching in Q3 2025-2026 and reporting in 2026-2027. 4.5 UKHSA will explore the application of rapid laboratory tests, used to assess whether a pathogen is killed by existing or novel antimicrobials, to enable identification of novel therapeutic approaches and support translation into clinical evaluation. 4.6 UKHSA and VMD are partners in the UKRI-funded Accurate, Rapid, Robust and Economical One Health DiagnoSTics for antimicrobial resistance Network, which aims to support new AMR diagnostics and detection methods progress into use in real life settings.