Pump and circumstance - a pilot study investigating the benefit of holding stock elastomeric infusers for the OPAT service at University Hospitals Birmingham - Poster P05

Sep 29, 2026

The study addresses delays in discharge caused by the high cost, short shelf life, and long ordering-to-delivery turnaround (4–23 days) of elastomeric antibiotic infusers supplied to University Hospitals Birmingham. Pre-prepared infusers held at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital inpatient Pharmacy were used to bridge acquisition lag for OPAT service patients during a four-week pilot starting 1 April 2025. Eleven patients began treatment within 24 hours of referral, saving 58 inpatient bed days, with no wastage; results support expanding stocking to improve patient flow and reduce length of stay.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Posters Background: Due to the high cost and short shelf life of elastomeric antibiotic infusers these devices are ordered at University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) from external commercial suppliers with a turnaround time from ordering to delivery of 4–23 days (turnaround times from 2024–25) . This lag time causes delays to discharge resulting in patients who are otherwise medically ﬁt for discharge remaining unnecessarily in a hospital in-patient bed. Pre-prepared infusers have a short shelf-life with a unit cost of £120–170 per day. Stocks of these medicines have previously not been held by pharmacy due to the risk of expiry and therefore waste. Objectives: To explore whether pre-prepared infusers held at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital inpatient Pharmacy as stock could be used to bridge the lag time to pump acquisition. It is proposed that this intervention will reduce time from referral to discharge for Queen Elizabeth Hospital patients accepted by the Trust OPAT team over a 4 week pilot study starting 1 April 2025 . Methods: In the pilot elastomeric infusers containing ﬂucloxacillin 8g or piperacillintazobactam 18g were stocked. Infusers were ordered during a four-week period and allocated by the OPAT pharmacist to patients who were referred and accepted into the OPAT service. Results: Eleven patients received treatment using pre-prepared stock infusers during the pilot phase which bridged the gap to supply by commercial providers. All eleven patients in the pilot commenced treatment within 24 h of referral to OPAT saving 58 inpatient bed days or 14.5 bed days each week (based on turnaround times stated by the outsourced suppliers at the time of the study) . During the pilot phase 15 eligible patients at Queen Elizabeth were referred for early discharge, only eleven could be accepted due to the small-scale pilot. No infusers were wasted during this pilot period. Conclusions: Implementation of stock elastomeric infuser service at the Queen Elizabeth site of University Hospitals Birmingham facilitated patient ﬂow which in turn offers potential savings due to a reduction in length of stay. Expanding the scale of future studies could evidence greater potential cost savings and the beneﬁts when the demand is met for this service at UHB. Wider implementation of stock infusers to other UHB sites could offer the same reduced time to discharge for all OPATinfuser patients. Expansion to the holding of stock piperacillin/tazobactam 13.5 gelastomeric infusers and ﬂucloxacillin 12 g elastomeric infusers at UHB could help improve patient ﬂow and reduce hospital stays by enabling a wider range of eligible patients to receive elastomeric antibiotic pumps without acquisition lag time. However, further research is needed to evaluate the beneﬁts of stocking these speciﬁc strengths in relation to the overall demand for them. Abstract citation ID: dlaf239.009 P05 Pump and circumstance: a pilot study investigating the beneﬁt of holding stock elastomeric infusers for the OPAT service at University Hospitals Birmingham Marcus Mitchell1, Nayab Hanif1, Abigail Jenkins1 1University Hospitals Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

FAQs

What problem did the pilot aim to solve?

Delays to discharge occurred because elastomeric antibiotic infusers ordered from external suppliers took 4–23 days to arrive, leaving medically fit patients in inpatient beds.

How were the pre-prepared infusers used during the pilot?

Elastomeric infusers containing flucloxacillin 8 g or piperacillin/tazobactam 18 g were stocked and then allocated by the OPAT pharmacist to eligible patients accepted into the OPAT service.

What were the main outcomes from holding stock?

Eleven patients started treatment within 24 hours of referral, bridging the supply gap. The pilot saved 58 inpatient bed days and reported no infuser wastage.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Olivia Brown