NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner is refusing to say whether she knows how widespread the practice of issuing unapproved doses of restricted powerful antibiotics is in the state's hospitals as the opposition ramps up calls for an investigation.
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On Saturday Fairfax Media reported that an analysis showed doctors at Royal North Shore Hospital have been issuing tens of thousands of doses of restricted antibiotics without approval, undermining the regime designed to combat the rise of superbugs.
A leading infection control expert described the practice as "throwing fire on the superbug problem" and says the revelations are a rare insight into what is probably an Australia-wide problem.
Documents revealed compliance with the Northern Sydney Local Health District's system through which approval to prescribe the powerful antibiotics is sought, called eASY, was at just 35 per cent.
The system underpins the hospital's so-called antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) program, which is designed to reduce inappropriate antibiotic use to improve patient outcomes and reduce superbug resistance and costs.
According to the Northern Sydney Local Health District which developed the software, eASY is currently used by 18 hospitals in NSW.
But Mrs Skinner is refusing to say whether she knows or is concerned whether the practice of prescribing restricted antibiotics without approval under the system extends to any or all of those hospitals.
In response to the revelations, Mrs Skinner told the Sun-Herald that it was "clear the Northern Sydney Local Health District has taken appropriate actions to improve its antibiotic prescription practices since the beginning of 2015".
This included investing in its electronic medicines management system.
"While there is always room for improvement, the National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey published by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare in 2014 indicates 70 per cent of NSW hospitals were compliant with guidelines."
A Northern Sydney Local Health District spokesman has said Royal North Shore "performs very well in appropriate use of antibiotics according to the national benchmarks under the National Antibiotic Utilisation Surveillance Program".
He said compliance with eASY was now at about 50 per cent.
But opposition health spokesman Walt Secord called for a wider, independent investigation to see whether or not the problem is confined to Royal North Shore Hospital.
"The system is in use in almost 20 hospitals; patients need to be confident that their hospitals are following the official protocols and not putting patient safety at risk," he said.
