The Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) service at Royal Free London (RFL) facilitates the early and safe discharge of patients who are clinically stable and require short to long-term intravenous antibiotic therapy.

The OPAT team offers patient or community nurse administration of intravenous therapy via an appropriate access device.

Other services available are:

• patient assessment
• patient training to self-administer IV antibiotics 
• advice on adverse side effects 
• weekly blood monitoring to drug response with appropriate intervention
• weekly Vascular Access Device care and maintenance
• administration of IV antibiotics for daily attenders of the OPAT nurse clinics
• monitoring patients on long-term oral antibiotics
• RFL OPAT Hospital@Home.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusions

Patient groups include those with acute or chronic infection such as:

• endocarditis
• osteomyelitis
• cellulitis
• skin or soft tissue infections
• trauma and orthopaedics
• bronchiectasis
• Infections with resistant organisms for which there are no oral antibiotic options.

Exclusions

• paediatric patients.

How to Refer