Home IV antibiotic treatment could free up hospital bed capacity

Treating patients with IV antibiotics at home, rather than in a clinical setting, could reduce NHS costs and ease pressure on hospital beds, research suggests.

Patients and clinicians reported that antibiotics prepared at home by nurses and delivered continuously to the patient via an elastomeric pump worked well and offered a viable alternative to hospital treatment.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, from a small group of patients, also suggested that home IV antibiotic treatment could potentially save the NHS more than £3,500 per patient.

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Recent advances in elastomeric pumps allow medication to be mixed and the device to be filled at home, rather than in a pharmacy.

The researchers asked 24 patients, their carers and clinicians for their views on using an elastomeric device at home, with backup from a company which provides support through virtual wards for the NHS. The IV antibiotics were prepared by a nurse at home and delivered via an elastomeric pump over a 24-hour period, with patients monitored remotely twice daily.

As well as assessing whether the at-home pump was acceptable to patients, carers and clinicians, the researchers also examined the financial implications of using the home pump compared with the cost of staying in hospital, going to an outpatient clinic, or using a pre-filled pharmacy-prepared pump at home.

The researchers found that both clinicians and patients were happy with the home treatment option.

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Lead researcher Dr Stephanie Howard Wilsher, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: ‘Pressure on hospital beds is a longstanding issue for the NHS, which calls for innovative solutions. Using the device at home provides greater independence for patients, while providing good healthcare at much-needed cost-savings for the NHS.’

In terms of cost savings, the home nurse-prepared treatment cost £2,507.54 per patient. This was significantly lower than the cost of a pre-filled pump used at home at £4,373.37, or £6,122.70 for a patient’s hospital stay, combined with outpatient clinic visits at £3,603.76.

Despite the small sample size, the researchers emphasise that scaling the use of home IV antibiotic pumps nationally could reduce costs for the NHS.

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Dr Howard Wilsher added: ‘Although the evaluation was based on a small sample size, our findings suggest that treatment at home could be economically and realistically feasible to help the NHS meet growing demand for high-quality care.’