On Wednesday 13th July Derek Butler and Maria Cann visited Blackpool Victoria Hospital to hear about home antibiotic therapy delivered intravenously.  Dr Achyut Guleri invited us to hear about the work in the region on continuing treatment at home where patients were well enough to leave hospital, when the only thing stopping them was the need to continue IV antibiotic therapy. 

Tracy Ingham,  IV Team Lead spoke about the work of the North Lancashire PCT in delivering this service.  The District Nursing team were able to provide holistic care at home and this made a huge difference to patients.  There was a zero tolerance to infections, and there had been no bacteraemias relating to the work of team since they had started to provide this care.

The treatment was given via a 30-60 infusion method, with the first dose of the antibiotic being given in hospital using the Home Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy protocol, using e-discharge and a community prescription, which includes the antibiotics and the venflons.

The use of technology gave a lower risk of infection with polyurethane devices to mitigate the risks from biofilms forming, a contributory cause of bacteraemias.

By using this approach with specialist nurses and doctors, it is possible to provide high-quality, effective IV therapy in the home setting whilst accommodating the wishes of patients to remain in their preferred environment.