Given the very real threat so-called superbugs, which have become resistant to most mainstream antibiotics, pose to millions, the news Calvary Public Hospital is taking steps to reduce its inappropriate use of such drugs is to be welcomed.
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Both Canberra's Calvary public and Calvary private hospitals were identified as having the highest rate of non-compliance in this area by the first report on antimicrobial use from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare and released in June.
The findings, while obviously a cause for concern, do need to be considered in context. One factor to be taken into account is that the study used figures from 2014. The data for 2015 is still being collated and processed.
It is also noteworthy that hospital participation was entirely voluntary. Canberra Hospital at Woden did not supply data and does not feature in the results.
While our two Calvarys rank poorly against others in the study group it is impossible to say where they rank against hospitals across the country.
This major shortcoming undermines the usefulness of the report and begs the question as to why steps have not been taken to ensure the provision of data on the use of antibiotics by all hospitals is mandatory so an effective national rankings table can be prepared.
The good news is some water appears to have flowed under the bridge since 2014. A Calvary Public Hospital spokesman told Fairfax the hospital had stepped up internal clinical policies and guidelines to clamp down on the use of antimicrobials.
On the downside, hospitals that did not participate in the study, and whose performance has not been made public, lack the same degree of pressure to act in this way.
And, in the broader scheme of things, all Australia seems to have a problem with the overuse of antimicrobials, the drugs formerly known as antibiotics, even though national usage has dropped off slightly since 2010.
On any given day in 2014 38.4 per cent of all Australian hospital patients were receiving at least one antimicrobial. Almost a quarter of these prescriptions were considered non-compliant with drug-use guidelines by the report's authors.
In the broader community, 46 per cent of the population were given at least one prescription for a course of antimicrobials with the highest rates being among children and the elderly.
These were in many cases used to treat colds and influenza, viral illnesses over which they have no effect.
While the tale of the discovery of penicillin, an epic in which the Australian Howard Florey played a significant part, still makes thrilling reading, the reality is the the overuse of that drug and the many others that have come along since is robbing them of their effectiveness.
Concerted action is needed if we are not to return to the bad old days when even simple infections could kill.
