Neonatal infection: antibiotics for prevention and treatment

Resource impact statement

No significant resource impact is anticipated

The NICE guideline on neonatal infection: antibiotics for prevention and treatment updates and replaces the former guideline published in 2012.

We do not expect this update to have a significant impact on resources; that is:

• the resource impact of implementing any single guideline recommendation in England will be less than £1 million per year (or £1,800 per 100,000 population) and
• the resource impact of implementing the whole guideline in England will be less than £5 million per year (or £9,000 per 100,000 population).

Where clinical practice changes as a result of this update to the previous NICE guideline, it is not anticipated that there will be a significant change in resource use.

This is because the population size is small, neonatal infection occurs in around 5,120 births per year. It is expected that any increase in cost  as a result of increased antibiotic use is likely to be offset by reductions in neonatal intensive care admissions and length of stay in neonatal intensive care.

Neonatal services are commissioned by NHS England. Providers are NHS hospital trusts.