Community Intravenous Antibiotics

In 2016 we established a community intravenous antibiotic service at the practice.

 

This came about after an elderly patient, who was a carer for her husband, suffered a serious infection, which required a prolonged course of powerful antibiotics into a drip.

 

Traditionally this would mean a long stay in hospital, however in 2015, our local hospital set up an out patient service, where people would travel to the hospital to receive each dose of antibiotic. This still meant a 60 mile round trip for patients, and in this particular case, difficulties for this particular patient.

 

We were able to work with the district nurses and the hospital to provide training for community staff in how to safely administer the antibiotics at the practice and at patients' homes to significantly reduce patient travel.

 

The short video clip documents our experiences:

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