Freedom of Information request - prescribing of antibiotics

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group,

We are currently researching the change in GP prescribing behaviour in urinary tract infections.

Please can you provide us with the following information:

Do you have a formulary used by primary care prescribers? If so, what is the current status of nitrofurantoin and trimethoprim with respect to urinary tract infections (e.g. first line, second line, etc)

Has the status of either nitrofurantoin or trimethoprim changed in the formulary since November 2014? If so, can you please provide the previous status(es) and details of the date(s) of change.

Have you had any work plans in place with respect to nitrofurantoin and trimethoprim prescribing since 2014? If so, can you please provide documents and start date.

Have you had any GP prescribing incentive schemes or similar which relate to trimethoprim or nitrofurantoin prescribing since November 2014? If so, can you please provide the documents.

Yours faithfully,

Ben Goldacre and Richard Croker