Referring clinicians should look for the closest available OPAT team.

The University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) service at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases facilitates and provides intravenous antimicrobials for a range of infections in an outpatient or community setting. It is a comparable and safe alternative to inpatient care in medically stable patients.

New referrals for patients currently in the community can only be accepted if they are already under a UCLH consultant's care.

Once patients are referred and accepted onto the service, patients are discussed in a weekly meeting where their blood tests, response to treatment and any scans/tests that they require are reviewed.

Although OPAT provides a service seven days a week, it can only accept referrals Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusions

• Adults aged 18+
• Medically fit for discharge
• Access to telephone at home
• Able to understand, consent and adhere to treatment regimens

Exclusions

• Medically unstable (septic or otherwise unwell requiring hospital treatment)
• Patient poses risk to staff
• Oral antimicrobials available for treatment
• History of anaphylaxis to proposed antimicrobial, and no alternatives available

How to Refer