The majority of community pharmacies are being asked for unnecessary antibiotics 'at least once a day', a survey by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has suggested.

Of the 400 community pharmacies surveyed by the NPA in April, 79% said they refused direct antibiotics requests from patients for minor conditions such as colds at least once a day - either during a Pharmacy First consultation or as an over-the-counter request.

Pharmacists also reported that some patients 'assumed antibiotics were the only way to cure a minor ailment'.

A quarter (25%) of pharmacies surveyed said patients 'frequently returned partially used antibiotics', while 37% said they were aware of patients 'regularly hoarding antibiotics for a later date'.

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They also reported patients requesting antibiotics before going on holiday, in case they became ill while they were away, as well as returning from abroad with 'significant quantities' of antibiotics for conditions that would not normally be treated by them in the UK.

And they said they had heard of patients trying to share partially used prescription antibiotics on Facebook groups.

Some 77% of those surveyed said they were concerned the demand for the drugs 'posed a serious risk to patient safety'.

NPA chair Olivier Picard the findings were 'concerning' and demonstrated 'widespread misconceptions about the role that antibiotics can play'.

'Although antibiotics may be an appropriate course of treatment for some conditions, for other ailments like viral coughs and sore throats, they may not be effective. This could also mean antibiotics may not be effective for treating more serious conditions, posing a risk to patient safety,' he said.

And he highlighted that pharmacists 'can supply antimicrobials in some circumstances but only when they are clinically needed'.

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'Pharmacies take very seriously their roles as antimicrobial stewards and provide more clinical services than ever before, taking pressures away from GPs and the rest of the health system,' Mr Picard added.

The findings come as the UK Health Security Agency is running a six-week long antibiotics awareness campaign, ‘Andi Biotic’.

And it has recently reported that some bacteria have already become resistant to ceftazidime/avibactam, introduced to the NHS in 2017.

The UKHSA has found that almost half of the UK population (42%) are concerned about how antimicrobial resistance affects them personally but 54% are either unsure if there’s anything they can individually do to prevent antibiotics becoming less effective at treating infections (28%) or believe there’s nothing they can personally do (26%).

Diane Ashiru-Oredope, lead pharmacist for antimicrobial resistance at UKHSA, said: 'Addressing misconceptions about taking antibiotics is an important part of tackling antibiotic resistance.

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'Antibiotic resistance is impacting people every day in this country. Not being able to effectively prevent and treat infections is one of the biggest threats to our health. The situation is not hopeless though, we can all work together to help keep antibiotics working.'

She highlighted that patients should only take antibiotics when prescribed and as directed by a healthcare professional, should not take antibiotics for colds and flu and should not save antibiotics for future use but instead return them to pharmacies.