Special features

Healthcare-associated infection — Home intravenous therapy

By Mel Snelling, MRPharmS, MPhil

Home IV therapy is becoming more common in the UK. It reduces a patient’s exposure to hospital-acquired infections and has a number of other benefits. This article describes the management of these patients and the role of the homecare team

This article as a PDF (60K)

Mel Snelling is lead HIV/infectious diseases pharmacist at Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust

Horacio Sormani/SPL

A patient being treated in their home

Patients generally find it more comfortable to be treated in their home

SUMMARY

Prolonged hospital stay is a risk factor for hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). The prevalence of HAIs is estimated to be 9 per cent in patients in hospital in the UK. The longer the hospital stay, the greater the risk of a patient developing an HAI.

In certain situations, notably in infectious diseases, patients may be medically fit for discharge but have to remain in hospital to complete a course of drugs that can only be given intravenously.