Background/introduction Current audit standards for antiretroviral therapy (ART) prescribing do not include standards for quantity dispensed.

Aim(s)/objectives 1) Establish a clinical standard for the quantity of ART to dispense when initiating or switching therapy. 2) Make a qualitative assessment of avoidable discards of ART. 3) Audit prescribing against existing BHIVA standards.

Methods An HIV care unit’s database was interrogated to identify 350 patients who had initiated or switched ART over 2 years to August 2014. ART prescribing and outcomes data were collected retrospectively from 110 randomly selected patients.

Results 58.2% (n = 64) switched therapy; 57.8% (n = 37) as a result of toxicity, 15.6% (n = 10) resulting from rationalisation of therapy and only 3.1% (n = 2) for virological failure. The median quantity of ART dispensed at initiation or switch was 8 weeks (IQR; 8–12) supply; discarded at switch was 1.5 days (IQR; 0–29.75) supply. Mean (SD) cost of discarded ART after switch was £311.11 (£11.54); median was £20.63 (IQR; £0-£334.94). Reasons for discard for patients in the highest cost quartile are displayed in Table 1.

Discussion/conclusion Dispensing 8 weeks of ART at initiation or switch results in a lower than expected cost of discarded ART. There is limited potential for reduction in avoidable discards by addressing the small number of high cost cases.