Improving antimicrobial stewardship: AmWeb, a tool for helping microbiologists in England to 'Start Smart' when advising on antibiotic treatment.

As part of an antimicrobial stewardship programme, healthcare organizations should have local antibiotic treatment guidelines in place that take account of local antibiotic resistance patterns. The current issue of JAC reports the development of an interactive web tool, called AmWeb, for the local surveillance of resistance by hospital laboratories in England. The application of AmWeb should help to both optimize the management of patients with infection and contribute to efforts to prolong the active life of antibiotics currently available for use.