Staff from the Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) team at University Hospital Monklands have received a Big Shout Out for the care they provide to those requiring antibiotic therapy.
OPAT, or outpatient antibiotic therapy, is a program designed to safely transition patients from hospital settings to the comfort of their homes, while continuing their antibiotic treatment. This approach not only accelerates recovery but also significantly improves the patients’ overall well-being by sparing them from extended hospital stays.
Michelle Spittal, senior charge nurse of the OPAT unit, said: “We have got so many different parts of OPAT. There are our patients that come every day. They can come from anything up to five minutes to two hours 2 hours.
“We’ve got our patients that do self-administration. We teach the patients to do it in their home and then they come to us once a week to be seen by the consultant and to us for bloods.
“We have patients on an antibiotic called Dalbavancin, which they receive once a week.
“And the other part is our shared care with the communities. Where district nurses administer the antibiotics and they come into us once a week.”
The service allows patients to receive enhanced patient centred care, with staff getting to know the patients well and providing a more personal experience.
Michelle added: “Some people can be with us for five days and some people can be on with us for a full six weeks and sometimes months. So you get to know the patients.
“On the wards you don’t have time to sat and talk as much. Where we can sit there for a length of time with them. They tell us things that won’t tell the consultants. So a more personal approach to the care.
“You see a very, very big difference in them right away. Because they’re in their own home. They’re eating their own meals; they’re doing what they would do normally as they do not need to stay in a hospital environment.”
Yvonne Trainer, professional lead for district nursing in East Kilbride and Strathaven, said: “We take our lead from OPAT and they select the patients that will be suitable for our service. We have been providing this service since 2018.
“We go out to the patients houses and administer the IV therapy daily. A lot of these patients struggle to get to the clinics every day. So it’s a brilliant service. It used to be that IV therapy was only available if you’re an inpatient in hospitals. So be able to provide a service in patients own homes improves their quality of life.”
Lorna Walker, district nurse in the integrated community support team in East Kilbride, said: “A lot of these patients maybe have had hip operations or they have infections in awkward places that makes their mobility poor and they do struggle.
“So it’s phenomenal that we can provide a service in the patient’s own home. And the feedback we get from the patients, they think it’s an amazing service. The staff build up a good rapport with them.
“And we’ve also got a really good relationship with OPAT that we can actually phone whenever just to get advice and take their guidance. And the patients are delighted with the service.”
The community project has been such a success, that it is now beginning to be rolled out to other localities.
As part of the recruitment Operation FLOW investment, the OPAT service have been enabled to recruit a number WTE new posts. This includes: band 6 and 7 nurses, a pharmacist, pharmacy technician, healthcare support worker, and part time consultants and microbiologists.
New roles across the organisation are still being recruited for as part of Operation FLOW https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/recruitment/operation-flow/
The Big Shout Out praises NHS Lanarkshire teams for taking an innovative, creative, and patient-centered approach to working, and recognizes the unique contribution staff make to overcoming the challenges faced across the entire healthcare system.
