'Ludicrous' to discipline GPs over antibiotics

"Soft-touch" and "hazardous" doctors should be disciplined for prescribing too many antibiotics, a leading NHS figure says.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's Prof Mark Baker said 10 million prescriptions a year in England were inappropriate.

The Royal College of GPs said the call was "counter-productive and unhelpful".

Dr Simon Bowers of Fullwood Green Medical Centre in Liverpool says it is "ludicrous" to punish doctors and that the answer is to improve education on the best use of antibiotics.