Antibiotic dispensing needs to be cut by 22 per cent, warned NICE today.

The news comes as the guidance group revealed new guidelines to tackle the overuse of antibiotics.

Antimicrobial resistance is on the rise and no new antibiotics have been produced for a generation.

“If we don’t change things now, we’ll have to change medicine and drastically change the way that we treat infection,” said Professor Mark Baker, centre for clinical practice director at NICE.

The advice group calls on pharmacists to challenge prescribing if they feel the use of antibiotics is not warranted.

“(Pharmacists) can be supported through additional training and IT systems… Hospital pharmacists will already refuse to dispense if they feel what has been prescribed isn’t correct,” said Tessa Lewis, All Wales Prescribing Advisory Group’s chair.

Antibiotic prescribing in England has been steadily increasing over several years. Nationally, 41.6 million antibiotic prescriptions were issued in 2013-14 at a cost of £192 million. Out of those 41.6 million, NICE believe almost 10 million are frivolous prescriptions, where the antibiotics will have little to no effect.

NICE believes that despite considerable guidance that prescribing rates of antibiotics should be reduced, nine out of 10 GPs say they feel pressured to prescribe antibiotics.

“People are addicted to the idea that antibiotics can cure all infections, but the more we use the less effective they are,” added Mr Baker.

“For the past 60 years we’ve felt like we can live off antibiotics, but that’s just not true.”