MEDICAL practitioners have asked people to take responsibility for not overusing antibiotics.

NHS East Riding of Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS Hull CCG is encouraging members of the public and healthcare professionals to be careful with their use of the drug as part of marking European Antibiotics Awareness Day on Tuesday.

The aim of the day is to encourage the responsible use of antibiotics, and increase understanding about how overusing antibiotics can significantly reduce their effectiveness and threaten the health of the person taking them.

Antibiotics are important medicines for treating bacterial infections, but are losing their effectiveness at an increasing rate. Bacteria adapt and find new ways to survive the effects of an antibiotic and become resistant. This resistance is one of the most significant threats to the safety of patients in Europe.

Inappropriate use of antibiotics counts as not taking your antibiotics as prescribed, skipping doses of antibiotics, saving some for later and not taking antibiotics at regular intervals.

Dr Angela Harley, Prescribing Lead at the CCG and GP said: “Antibiotic resistance is an everyday issue in all hospitals across England and Europe. Without effective antibiotics, many routine treatments will become increasingly dangerous. Setting broken bones, basic operations and even chemotherapy all rely on antibiotics that work.”