OPAT
Thu 14 May 2026 08:30-12:40
Online Forum, 3 CPD Hours

Benchmark your community OPAT pathways, strengthen workforce confidence and safely expand your service

As OPAT services continue to expand beyond the hospital setting, teams are navigating new challenges around safety, capacity and workforce support. With service models varying across the UK, this online forum provides a valuable opportunity to benchmark best practice, share learning and hear directly from your peers facing similar challenges.

Book your place at this timely online forum to connect with OPAT and community IV teams nationwide and gain practical insights into delivering OPAT safely in community and home-based settings. Take three hours out of your day and leave with new ideas you can apply immediately to strengthen your service. 

Delivering OPAT in the Community
Online 3 CPD hours Free

Deepen your knowledge

3 hours Continuing Professional Development: what you will learn

Join this free-to-attend, half-day course dedicated to networking, collaboration and sharing of best practice with OPAT teams nationwide. Book your place to focus on: 

  • Enhancing patient safety in community OPAT through escalation planning, deteriorating patient pathways and safe home-based delivery 
  • Strengthening nurse confidence in delivering IV therapy outside the hospital
  • Exploring how long-acting antibiotics can support service capacity and expansion
  • Understanding where telehealth can add value to OPAT pathways
  • Learning from real-world case studies of community OPAT services

Live online learning

Developed with convenience in mind: join this online course remotely

Packed with practical examples, and expert advice, plus benefit from:

  • Meeting and engaging with fellow OPAT teams: network with NHS Professionals from across the country 
  • Listening and watching presentations and speakers’ Q&A: ask those burning questions to understand other services’ successes 
  • Taking part in facilitated interactive sessions: discuss hot topics and hear how different trusts are tackling them
  • Feeding back and engaging: via the chat box and with moderators sharing key content to ensure you get the most out of this day

8:30
Join, tech support and opportunity to network in breakout rooms
9:00
Chair’s opening remarks and introductions
Emily Smith, Nurse Consultant IV Access, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Liverpool Group; Board Member, National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS)
Establishing safety and systems in the community
9:10
Delivering OPAT safely in the community: practical realities, pathways and lessons learned
  • Exploring necessary escalation and deteriorating patient pathways for safe OPAT delivery into the community
  • Navigating hospital-community interface challenges: assessing systems, processes and resources
  • Digital and telehealth vs face-to-face care: identifying appropriate utilisation
Marie Woodley, OPAT and IV Therapy Lead Nurse, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
Devices and delivery models
9:40
Implementing elastomeric device pathways in community OPAT
  • Understanding where elastomeric devices fit in OPAT services and navigating cost considerations
  • Integrating elastomerics into community services with mixed or limited digital systems
  • Case study insight: exploring the practicalities of an elastomeric pump pathway in practice
Georgina Green, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Home Infection Management Service (HIMS), Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
10:10
Questions and answers with your speakers
Industry partnership showcase
10:20
Sponsored presentation opportunities
  • This is a great opportunity for an industry partner to share insights into their product or service. For further information please contact vanessa.pearce@sbk-healthcare.co.uk
10:30
Question and answers with your industry partners
10:40
Meet the sponsors
10:50
Screen break
11:00
Interactive discussion: What works in community OPAT: challenges, solutions and next steps
  • What does OPAT in the community look like in your service and what has worked well so far?
  • What has been your biggest challenge delivering OPAT outside the hospital and how have you tried to address it?
  • What is one practical change, pathway or approach that has helped support staff or improve patient safety in your service?
11:20
Feedback on interactive discussion: What works in community OPAT: challenges, solutions and next steps
Administering long-acting antibiotics
11:30
Expanding OPAT capacity through long-acting antibiotics in the community
  • Exploring how dalbavancin is being used in OPAT services to reduce workload and admissions
  • Investigating current guidance and best practice around less frequent dosing of long-acting antibiotics
  • Measuring the outcomes of dalbavancin use in complex OPAT patients at home
Sally O’Neill, OPAT Service Lead Nurse, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Supporting the OPAT workforce
12:00
Building competency for safe IV therapy in community OPAT services
  • Exploring practical approaches to vascular access: midlines, PICCs and safe line care
  • Establishing effective training, competency frameworks and governance for community IV therapy
  • Case study insight: building a nurse-led community IV service to support OPAT and admission avoidance
Kate Owen, District Nurse & Community IV Team Leader, Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust
12:30
Questions and answers with your speakers
12:40
Chair’s closing remarks and close of conference

Confirmed speakers

Hear from experienced OPAT service leads and clinicians sharing real-world insights from delivering OPAT services across the NHS. Speaker confirmed to date:

Sally O’Neill
Job Title:
OPAT Service Lead Nurse
Organisation
Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Biography
Marie Woodley
Job Title:
OPAT and IV Therapy Lead Nurse
Organisation
Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
Biography

I am an experienced IV Specialist Nurse and OPAT Lead with a career spanning more than three decades in vascular access, IV therapy, and outpatient antimicrobial services. Since qualifying in 1991, I have developed and led OPAT and vascular access services across multiple NHS trusts, with extensive expertise in PICC and Midline insertion, service development, clinical governance, and antimicrobial stewardship.

My OPAT journey began in 2001 at Wexham Park Hospital, where I helped establish the service and trained in landmark PICC placement at the John Radcliffe. I later expanded this work across several organisations, maintaining and advancing my vascular access skills, including retraining in ultrasound‑guided PICC and Midline insertion at Cambridge.

Since 2010, I have led the OPAT/IV service at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, overseeing trust‑wide IV care, equipment, and clinical guidance within the IPC portfolio. Academically, I hold a PG Cert in non‑medical prescribing and a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Healthcare. I also served as a NIVAS board member, advocating for high‑quality vascular access practice across community services.

Currently, I am focused on integrating OPAT with the Hospital\@Home model to ensure consistent governance, AMS, and high‑standard IV therapy in the community. I continue to support the development of vascular access within our team and contribute nationally as part of the BSAC OPAT Standards steering group.
Kate Owen
Job Title:
District Nurse & Community IV Team Leader
Organisation
Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust
Biography
Emily Smith
Job Title:
Nurse Consultant IV Access; Board Member
Organisation
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of Liverpool Group; National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS)
Biography
Georgina Green
Job Title:
Clinical Nurse Specialist, Home Infection Management Service (HIMS)
Organisation
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Biography

Free NHS attendance

Please note:  Places at the forum are free to attend however, if you book a place and find yourself no longer able to attend, please email the bookings@sbk-healthcare.co.uk with at least 5 working days notice, so that we can reallocate your place. 

Failure to attend without prior written cancellation will result in a charge of £100+VAT.

Substitution attendees for delegates unable to attend after registering are acceptable at any time.

How this online forum will work

Once you have booked your place, SBK Healthcare will correspond with you using the email address you provided at the time of booking. Within one week of the online training taking place, you will be sent final details of the course including the full agenda, programme timings and your Zoom joining instructions. This email will include a joining link that can be used to access the course.

If you have not received your email two days before your event, do check your junk folder then contact SBK Healthcare on 01732 897788.

Practice sessions are available. If you would like to attend a zoom practice session before the event takes place, please let us know by emailing bookings@sbk-healthcare.co.uk. You will have the opportunity to meet an SBK Healthcare staff member who will ensure you are able to access zoom, that your camera and microphone work and you are fully set-up for the day. This is optional but if you do wish to attend, please use the same device that you plan to use on the day.

On the day, when registration starts, you will be able to join the course by initially entering a waiting room when there may be a short wait. The forum will include screen breaks, as well as topic themed interactive sessions which will take place in the breakout rooms.

Click here to view the specially created 5-minute video that will walk you through how to get the most out of attending your SBK Healthcare interactive online forum.

Terms and conditions

Certification of attendance

A certificate for Continuing Professional Development will be given to every fully registered participant who completes the course, as a record of your continuing professional training and development.

Modify registration

To let us know if your details are not correct when you have already registered, please email the bookings team.

Cancellations and substitutions

This event is free of charge to NHS and Public Sector attendees, if you book a place and find yourself unable to attend you must inform us by emailing the bookings team at SBK Healthcare at least 5 working days prior to the event taking place.  Failure to attend without written cancellation, 5 days before the event will result in a charge of £100. Substitution attendees for delegates unable to attend after registering are acceptable at any time.

Event changes

It may be necessary for reasons beyond the control of the conference organisers to alter the content, speakers or the timing of the programme. We will endeavour to keep you abreast of such changes. Should the event be postponed, we will endeavour to reschedule the event. 

Privacy notice

To view the details on how your data is being collected and used, please view our Privacy policy

Expected attendees

This online course is ideal for NHS professionals working within Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy. This is a great opportunity to network and share examples of best practice, so book to attend and join other:

  • OPAT Nurses, Nurse Leads and Clinical Nurse Specialists
  • Community OPAT (COPAT) and Community IV Therapy Nurses
  • District Nurses involved in IV therapy / OPAT
  • Vascular Access / IV Therapy Nurses
  • Antimicrobial Pharmacists
  • OPAT / Antimicrobial Clinical Practitioners
  • OPAT Service Managers and Clinical Leads

Past attendee feedback

Over the last few years, our NHS professional development courses have evolved to engage with your challenges and support your progress. Hear how other attendees have benefitted from shared experiences and guided presentations: 

“The presentations were really interesting and relevant to issues in my area. The facilitation was friendly but also quick. The mix of short presentations and interactive sessions worked well”

North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Progressing your OPAT and IV Therapy Service, 2024

“Great day, enjoyed and gained a lot from partaking”

Guy’s St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Progressing your OPAT & IV Therapy Service, 2024

“Very informative. Relating to practice and case studies helpful”

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Progressing your OPAT & IV Therapy Service, 2024

“Very well organised, excellent and informative content”

Newcastle City Hospitals, OPAT and IV National Networking Forum, 2023

“Good to listen to different services experience, everyone at different stages and using different models for various reasons, great to understand these”

Homerton Hospital, OPAT and IV National Networking Forum, 2023

“Very informative and recommended for OPAT and vascular access teams”

North East London NHS Foundation Trust, OPAT & IV National Networking Forum, 2022

“Well organised, varied and interesting. Lots of things to take back to our team”

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, OPAT & IV National Networking Forum, 2022

“Good learning and networking”

Birmingham Community Health Care NHS Foundation Trust, OPAT & IV National Networking Forum, 2022

View further comments on SBK Healthcare events on Trust Pilot.

Why sponsor?

Our role at SBK Healthcare is to bring industry together with healthcare professionals so that you can educate and inform your audience. These events offering dedicated presentation, Q&A, networking and discussion time, each sponsor will be full immersed into the event and able to effectively engage with your NHS audience.

Your event, managed by us

SBK Healthcare also provides in-house forums. Working closely with you as the client we can research, produce, market and deliver the conference or online forum that best suits the audience and meets your goals.

Reach out today

If you would like more information on our sponsorship options an in-house forum or if you wish to discuss your needs and what solutions may be appropriate for your business, please contact: 

Vanessa Pearce 

Contact: 01732 897788 

Email: vanessa.pearce@sbk-healthcare.co.uk