Hospital In The Home (HITH) Service
The Hospital in the Home service is run by infectious diseases doctors, district nurses and care coordination nurses working together. We care for people with complicated infections that require extended courses of intravenous antibiotics (2-6 weeks). We meet and assess patients in hospital and, where appropriate, can assist people in returning to their homes and regular activities faster by delivering and administering their intravenous antibiotics at home.
Antibiotics are given through a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC line) which can stay in place for the duration of treatment. Like an ordinary intravenous catheter, it is placed in a vein but has a tip that extends a longer distance within the vein. However it has many advantages including being less likely to fall out and a lower risk of infection. The district nurses will check the PICC every day and it will be removed at the end of the course of treatment.
Home treatment isn't suitable for everyone so we put a lot of effort into selecting the right patients medically and making sure people feel confident with their antibiotics and care before they go home.
The service aims to give patients the support needed to make home treatment work. This includes daily district nurse visits to administer antibiotics and discuss any problems and regular clinical reviews by an infectious diseases doctor (usually the registrar). Key to our system are care coordination nurses who ensure hospital and community services work together.
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