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The vast majority of GPs say they feel under pressure to prescribe antibiotics to patients against their better judgement, according to a recent survey. The poll of 1,000 GPs by MedeConnect revealed that 93 per cent have felt pressurised by patients to prescribe antibiotics, 28 per cent admit to prescribing them several times a week and 45 per cent have even prescribed the drugs knowing full well that they would not treat the infection. In addition, 70 per cent of GPs said that they had written prescriptions for antibiotics when they've been unsure whether an infection was bacterial or viral and therefore whether or not the antibiotics would work, while around a quarter said they would benefit from a diagnostic tool to eliminate the problem.

The survey was conducted on behalf of the Longitude Prize 2014, which has been launched to find a simple, cost-effective test for bacterial infections.