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Fighting Superbugs. Protecting Patients.

Antibiotics are a safety net we depend on throughout our lives.

We rely on them to help us recover from infections, to have operations safely, and to manage long-term conditions. When infections become resistant to the medication used to treat them, these everyday situations become more complicated to manage; sometimes even life-threatening.

That’s exactly what’s happening right now, across the UK. Resistant infections – or superbugs – contribute to 35,000 deaths in the UK a year and many more people experience their life-altering complications.

But this isn’t inevitable. While some solutions depend on the development of new antibiotics and other treatment therapies, there are urgent, practical steps we can take, right here, right now, to reduce risks to patients and prevent further suffering.

As antibiotics stop working, we won’t stop fighting for changes to protect patients - but we need your help.

Why action can’t wait

Just waiting for new antibiotics is not the answer. While we wait, we need to minimize the risk to patients from superbugs in every single way we can - to prevent avoidable deaths, and to make sure that as few patients as possible have to live with the long-term side-effects of resistant infections. That is what AMR Action UK does – every day, every week. Protecting patients is our mission.

We stand beside those already affected by resistant infections. Through our nurse-led support services we listen to people’s stories, help them access more effective treatments and make sure they’re not facing resistance alone.

We fund vital patient-centered research to understand the true impact of resistant infections, like chronic and recurrent UTIs.

But understanding is not enough to affect change – changes in policy and changes to clinical practice in the NHS – that is where our advocacy comes in. Read about our current campaigns below and how you can join-in.

With no Government or NHS funding, we need your support. Will you #FundTheFight?

DONATE HERE

Fighting to protect patients today – our current campaigns

AMR Action UK works to influence policy-makers, and NHS leaders, to create the changes that patients want and deserve.

We fight for cleaner hospitals

In 2023/24, there were 22,687 healthcare associated Gram-negative infections. Gram-negative infections are a particular type of infection that includes E.Coli – the most common cause of UTIs. That’s an average of 60 people every day acquiring these infections in hospital or following procedures.

The Government missed its target to halve the number of these infections picked up in healthcare settings / following medical procedures, with the number reducing only slightly. It has since dropped the target altogether.

Some of the most prevalent resistant infections, such as C. difficile and MRSA, are on the rise again in UK hospitals. In fact, C. difficile and MRSA reached 13-year and 11-year highs according to recent data.

People with resistant infections spend on average 9 days longer in hospital and there’s an additional hospitalisation cost of £3441 per patient compared with infections not reported as resistant. Resistant infections are estimated to cost the NHS £180m each year.

The latest UKHSA data show that 7.6% of patients acquire an infection in healthcare settings.

  • AMR Action UK is calling for a reduction in that number by a third, to a maximum of 5%, by April 2027.

We fight for the right to better, quicker, diagnostic testing in the community

When people are ill, identifying which infection they have is crucial:

  • It makes sure that patients get the right antibiotic, first time, reducing the chance of more severe or long-lasting illness

  • It preserves each antibiotic until it is really needed, reducing inappropriate and indiscriminate use, slowing the growth of resistance, and helping to ensure that as many antibiotics as possible will still work for patients in the future when they really need them

Rapid diagnostic tests, that identify the correct antibiotic to use, already exist, yet in the UK most of our NHS doctors and nurses working in the community still do not yet have access to these tests to assist with their diagnoses.

The issue of clinicians prescribing antibiotics without confirmed test results – known as empirical prescribing – was highlighted by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee back in 2013, and in the 2015 O’Neill Review on AMR, which called for all antibiotic prescriptions to be informed by surveillance and rapid diagnostics by 2020. That target was missed - and five years on, the UK has yet to fulfil that ambition. Worse still, the UK’s AMR National Action Plan (NAP) still does not identify when this situation will change and what funding will be made available to make this happen.

  • AMR Action is calling for patients to have full access to point-of-care diagnostic testing in the community (GP surgeries, community diagnostic centres and, where appropriate, pharmacies), by April 2027.

We fight so that patients in hospital get the right dose of antibiotic

If an IV line (a drip) isn’t properly flushed after a dose of antibiotic is given, some of the medicine can stay sitting in the tube. That means the patient may not receive the full dose they were prescribed. In fact, it is estimated that in these circumstances up to a third of IV antibiotics never reach the patient.

This isn’t just a small detail. It’s about speed of recovery, preventing hospital readmission, and reducing antibiotic resistance. When doses are incomplete, infections can linger, and bacteria can become harder to treat.

Yet shockingly, research shows that fewer than 1 in 3 relevant NHS organisations have an antibiotic line flushing policy.

No patient should leave hospital worse off because of something as basic as their antibiotic being stuck in a tube.

  • AMR Action UK is calling for clear national standards to be introduced by 1st April 2026, so that every patient, in every hospital, gets their full prescribed dose of antibiotics.

We can’t win this fight on our own. We need your help to continue to Fight Superbugs and Protect Patients.

#JoinTheFight

Help us spread the word and ensure that every elected politician, and every NHS leader, understands the devastating impact of superbugs and what can be done, right here, right now, to save lives and reduce harm.

We are a small national charity doing amazing work to fight superbugs and protect patients, but with very limited resources. Even a small donation will help.

#FundTheFight

DONATE HERE

KEEP IN TOUCH

To keep in touch and to hear more from AMR Action UK, fill in our contact form:

AMR Action UK

Registered charity number 1157884

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