Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Chief Medical Officer’s publication entitled Annual report 2025: infections, published on 4 December 2025, if he will set out how the proposed regional infection groups will deliver consistent antimicrobial stewardship standards and infection management across local systems to support optimal patient care and to minimise the future risk of drug-resistant infections.

The United Kingdom’s 2024 to 2029 National Action Plan (NAP) to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR) sets out a range of commitments and targets to mitigate the AMR risk, including to reduce antibiotic use in humans. Aligned to the NAP, NHS England is taking a range of steps to embed antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) within professional responsibilities across the National Health Service workforce.

This includes establishing professional accountability and leadership through regional AMS networks, embedding AMS into continuous professional development training programmes, and providing digital decision-support tools and national reporting on antibiotic prescribing targets.

As set out in the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2025, the formation of regional infection groups (RIGs) was recently proposed by the NHS England Infectious Disease Clinical Reference Group to embed AMS at a local level. NHS England is committed to introducing RIGs, which would collaborate with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to deliver local, data-driven AMS interventions that span community and secondary care settings.

It is envisaged that RIGs would be comprised of senior leaders across NHS Regional Teams, UKHSA, Regional Pathology Networks, Infection, Prevention and Control teams, and NHS Emergency Preparedness, Resilience & Response, organised according to regions or integrated care board (ICB) clusters. RIG initiatives would be shaped and informed by local, regional or ICB cluster priorities.

Through these measures, AMS is embedded in education, clinical practice, and regional governance, ensuring responsible prescribing, and safeguarding the effectiveness of antimicrobials for the future.