Welcome to OPAT The Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy Service Information for patients Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy Service PROUD TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE SHEFFIELD TEACHING HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
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What is OPAT? OPAT (Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy), is a service that offers you an alternative to an inpatient stay whilst you continue with your course of intravenous antibiotics. Depending on your illness and the length of the treatment you will require, we are able to offer you various options of how you can have your treatment delivered. These include the option of: Daily visits to the OPAT clinic The opportunity for yourself or a family member/friend to be taught to self-administer your treatment at home if appropriate Community IV Nurses The OPAT is a multidisciplinary team that consists of: A consultant physician of infectious diseases, who will be responsible for your care Medical team An experienced OPAT nursing team Microbiologist Pharmacist Physiotherapist OPAT clerk/receptionists Where is OPAT located? OPAT is located on I2, which is on I Floor of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. page 3 of 8
Referral procedure Patients are referred to our service via: GPs Accident & Emergency - Northern General Hospital Minor injuries - Royal Hallamshire and Northern General Hospitals Acute Medical Unit (AMU) / Medical Assessment Centre (MAC) - Northern General Hospital Your own consultant if you are an inpatient / outpatient What happens next? For patients who are going to receive antibiotics via the OPAT clinic each day: You will have an assessment of your condition made by a member of the nursing team, and your antibiotic administered. You may have blood tests taken to access your clinical condition, and the antibiotics effectiveness. You will be seen by a doctor at any time that you, the nurses or the doctor decides. page 4 of 8
For patients having their treatment administered at home, you will: Be expected to attend the OPAT clinic at least once a week, sometimes more often depending on your condition or antibiotic. Always be reviewed by a doctor. Have an assessment of your condition made by a member of the nursing team. Have your line checked and re-dressed. Have blood tests taken to assess your clinical condition, and the antibiotic's effectiveness. Be given a new stock of medications and equipment required for your treatment to be delivered. If treatment is being delivered by community nurses then we will contact them with an update of your treatment plan. What if I decide not to continue? If at any time during your treatment, you decide not to continue having your antibiotic delivered in this way, then arrangements can be made for re-admission into hospital. What happens if I become unwell? If you become unwell at any time you will always have contact with a senior health care professional via our 24 hour contact numbers. Admission back into hospital will always be available in case of emergency. page 5 of 8
What if I decide to choose OPAT? Even if after this first appointment with the specialist nurses you decide that OPAT is right for you, you will only have this kind of treatment if everyone concerned agrees to you having it. This includes: You and your family The hospital consultant in charge of your care The consultant responsible for OPAT When everyone is in agreement with the decision you will see a nurse from the OPAT team who will assess you. Your nurse will discuss with you a plan of care best suited to your individual needs. When will I be able to go home? This will be different for every patient and will depend on your circumstances. Usually it is when you, your consultant and the OPAT team are happy that you are medically fit to be sent home. Once a discharge plan has been agreed, the OPAT nurses will do the following: Arrange for you to have the appropriate intravenous device inserted Give you information on how to care for the device Give you your first dose of antibiotics via the device Negotiate a discharge date that fits in with everyone Organise for you to come back to the OPAT clinic the next day Give you some contact names and numbers which you can use if you have any problems Give you 24 hour help / advice line numbers to call if you have any problems outside working hours Give you information about the antibiotics you have been prescribed page 6 of 8
Do I have to continue with this kind of care if I don't like it? No, if after trying this kind of care you find it is not right for you, talk to your OPAT nurse. If at any time you would like more information, help or support, please call: OPAT Team 0114 271 2605 Monday to Friday, 8.00am - 6.00pm Saturday and Sunday, 8.00am - 4.00pm Outside of these hours, please call: Ward E2 Royal Hallamshire Hospital 0114 271 3559 Monday to Friday, 6.00pm - 8.00am Saturday and Sunday, 4.00pm - 8.00am Ask for the Nurse in Charge and state that you are an OPAT patient. We hope this information is useful to you. page 7 of 8
Produced with support from Sheffield Hospitals Charity Working together we can help local patients feel even better To donate visit www.sheffieldhospitalscharity.org.uk Registered Charity No 1169762 Alternative formats can be available on request. Please email: alternativeformats@sth.nhs.uk Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 2018 Re-use of all or any part of this document is governed by copyright and the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005 SI 2005 No.1515. Information on re-use can be obtained from the Information Governance Department, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. Email infogov@sth.nhs.uk PD3369-PIL1116 v5 Issue Date: November 2018. Review Date: November 2021