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For many years, antibiotic susceptibility results were reported using the letters ‘S’ (for susceptible or sensitive), ‘I’ (for intermediate) or ‘R’ (for resistant). However, the ‘I’ classification was somewhat confusing and risked being interpreted as equivalent to resistant. Consequently, in 2019, following years of consultation activity, the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) recommended that the ‘intermediate’ definition be made obsolete and allocated ‘I’ a new meaning.1 The organisation introduced other noteworthy changes at the same time. Some of these, in brief, mean that certain bacteria can now never be reported as ‘S’ to some commonly used antibiotics. The impact of these changes is wide-reaching, yet, anecdotally at least, it appears that many healthcare professionals outside of the infection specialties remain unaware of these updates. Hence, it is likely that many prescribers will not appreciate the implications of these changes, both for individual patients as well as on a wider scale.