Home IV Therapy
& Infusions

Yes. A nurse can only give an infusion on a prescription from a prescribing clinician, so have the prescription ready to share when you book, with the medicine, dose and infusion time on it. Without one, a Medelit doctor can see you first, at home or by video, and decide whether a drip is right for you.

It depends on the medicine and the dose, which is why home IV drips are booked in three lengths: under an hour, one to two hours, or two to three hours. Your prescription or discharge letter usually states the infusion time; if it does not, ask your prescribing clinician before you choose the visit.

Yes. If your prescribing clinician has set a course of intravenous antibiotics, a nurse can give each dose at home, through a cannula, midline, PICC or port, so you can finish the course without daily hospital visits. Book the doses as a course, so the visits follow the times on your prescription.

Yes, with a prescription from a prescribing clinician. A nurse can give IV fluids at home to treat dehydration, for example after a stomach bug or during a long illness. Tell us when you book how long the drips are expected to continue, so the visits can follow your prescription.

Yes, with a prescription from a prescribing clinician. Our nurses give vitamin drips at home in the same way as every other infusion, on a medical prescription that states the vitamins, dose and timing. If you do not have one yet, a Medelit doctor can see you first and advise whether a drip suits you.

Yes. Between treatments the nurse can flush your PICC line, midline or port, change the dressing and check the site for redness or swelling, and give your drips through the same line. Tell us which line you have when you book, together with the care plan from your hospital team.

Almost every prescribed drip can. The two exceptions are chemotherapy and iron infusions, which our nurses do not give at home, so your hospital or clinic arranges those. For any other infusion, your prescription sets out the medicine, dose and timing, and the nurse gives it in the comfort of your home.

For most people, yes. Infusions are now routinely given at home, and your nurse checks you before the drip starts, watches how you respond while it runs and stays until it has finished. Any concern about the medicine itself is best raised with your prescribing clinician before the first home visit.

You do: there is no pharmacy service with the visit, so the infusion you have been prescribed needs to be in your home when the nurse arrives. Many patients receive it from the hospital pharmacy or a homecare delivery company, and keep it stored as the label says until the visit.

Sometimes. Some NHS hospitals run outpatient or virtual-ward services that give IV antibiotics or fluids at home, but places and waiting times vary by area. Medelit is a private alternative: you choose the infusion nurse and the time yourself, and payment is taken online when you accept the visit.

Many private health policies include nursing at home. Pay for the visit as usual, then forward our invoice with your prescription to your insurer, who decides on the refund. Policies vary, so ask your insurer before booking whether home IV therapy is included and which papers they need from you.

Prices for a home IV drip begin at £85 per visit for infusions lasting under an hour; longer drips are priced higher. Every infusion nurse sets their own fee, which appears for your address before you pick, and payment is taken online only when you accept the proposed time. No membership is needed.

Home IV visits are booked promptly, subject to which nurses reach your address, and generally happen within two to three days of your request. Finishing a course after discharge? Send your booking as soon as the prescription is ready, so the first home dose lines up with the schedule your prescribing clinician has set.

Our IV nurses visit homes and hotels in boroughs such as Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster. Treat the list as a guide only: type your postcode to find the infusion nurses able to reach your address.

Yes. Your nurse gives the report to you after each visit, recording what was given and how you responded, ready to show your GP or the clinician who prescribed the treatment. Keep the reports together if you are having a course of infusions.