It also enables Trusts to report on the total management of these patients including success as defined by the BSAC working party, facilitating a valuable audit of the service that has been commissioned.

A clear need exists for a standardised national OPAT Patient Management System that centres can use locally to capture and monitor the OPAT patient journey. A BSAC Working Party led by Mark Gilchrist (Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust London) and Matthew Laundy (St George’s Hospital London ) has developed the BSAC PMS which is available for use by all OPAT centres across the UK.

The system is easy to use by all OPAT staff and resides on a NHS compliant, secure N3 server environment. There are four basic sections that allow you to enter patient details and then be able to report on those that have been discharged into the database.

The PMS will become central to the management of OPAT patients and support packages are available that will ensure that helpline support is available to centres instantly.

The software licence and installation is available to all centres with one all-inclusive charge per annum to include software licence, forward development and annual support. There are separate databases for adult and paediatric services.

The BSAC PMS allows you to:

• Admit patients via the preadmission section
• Edit patients via the virtual ward, examining the drop down menu choices
• Discharge patients to the database
• Search the database for archived patients
• Examine the questionnaire
• View and export reports via the reporting function
• Make the database bespoke to your local needs through the admin section

Main features allow OPAT centres to:

• Monitor OPAT patients via a virtual ward accessible by all OPAT staff
• Report on patients within the database on a large number of fields
• Use the report data to input into management reports
• Include in business case to gain funding for an OPAT service
• Be part of the user group to develop the system further with new functionality

For further information on PMS or to discuss installation of the system in your Trust please contact OPAT@bsac.org.uk