OPAT good practice prescribing guide for complex oral antibiotics
Complex oral antibiotics OPAT good practice prescribing guide for adults age 18 and over
This resource has been created by the Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group (SAPG) Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) subgroup and the Association of Scottish Antimicrobial Pharmacists (ASAP) to support prescribing of complex oral antibiotics in an OPAT setting (cOPAT) in NHS Scotland.
For ease of reference all the good practice prescribing guides have the same layout:
- Indication and dose
- Dose adjustments
- Monitoring requirements
- Serious drug/ drug and drug/ food interactions
- Rare or serious adverse effects
Information on prescribing in an OPAT setting is available for the following complex oral antibiotics. More drugs will be available soon.
Oral co-trimoxazole
The drug summaries do not provide specific treatment guidelines. Individual patient treatment should take into account the core principles of antimicrobial stewardship. This includes selection of the appropriate antimicrobial for the shortest duration with oral therapy being preferred, whenever possible.
For intravenous antibiotics, see OPAT good practice prescribing guides for intravenous antibiotics.
Refer to Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy for more information on SAPG OPAT guidance.
Content updated: July 2026