Tackling the Sepsis Crisis
There is increasing awareness - publicly, nationally, globally - of the extent of the problem presented by sepsis. A host of organisations are acting to try to tackle lack of awareness and improve the rate of diagnosis.
A growing problem
Research commissioned by The Sepsis Trust earlier this year dramatically clarified the scale of the problem in the UK alone, identifying that over 250,000 people suffer with the effects of sepsis every year in this country. The report further associated the impact of sepsis on the UK's workforce and health care with a cost to the UK of up to £15.6 billion per year.
Globally, 27 million people are thought to fall ill with sepsis each year, with approximately 8 million people dying from it. World Sepsis Day, earlier this month, aimed to continue to raise awareness of this worldwide problem with events taking place all over the world. The World Health Organisation, in conjunction with the Global Sepsis Alliance, hosted an online congress to focus on the issues around maternal and neo-natal sepsis.
A recent Panorama programme, screened by the BBC, highlighted the personal stories of people affected by sepsis - the survivors traumatised by their experience and the families of those who did not survive. The overwhelming message of the investigation was the need to raise suspicion of sepsis amongst medical professionals so that treatment can commence before it is too late. It was generally felt that there was insufficient awareness of the signs of sepsis and therefore it was being missed.
What is sepsis?
Sepsis is no respecter of creed or colour or sex or age. It occurs when the body's immune system over-reacts to an infection elsewhere in the body and, although some groups are more susceptible to the condition, anyone can develop sepsis and anyone can die from it.
If treatment is delayed, sepsis can lead to multiple organ failure. The mortality rate is high and even those who survive are left traumatised and impaired by this shocking condition.
What is being done to tackle this virulent, life-threatening illness?
The aims of new initiatives over the last eighteen months have been: to raise awareness of the illness; to clarify the symptoms to look for; and to introduce clear treatment and management guidelines.
Definitions & Diagnosis
In 2016, the Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock clarified definitions of those two conditions, concluding that the term 'severe sepsis' was no longer useful.
Sepsis was defined as 'life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection' and septic shock was defined as 'a subset of sepsis in which particularly profound circulatory, cellular and metabolic abnormalities are associated with a greater risk of mortality than with sepsis alone.'
It further introduced a new measure for early and simple bedside screening for patients likely to develop sepsis. The qSOFA criteria are designed to speed up a sepsis diagnosis by monitoring changes in respiratory rate, blood pressure and mental state.
Treatment and Management Guidelines
The Society of Critical Care Medicine and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine last year issued new international guidelines which stated that the source of the infection should be identified as soon as possible, intravenous antibiotics should be given within one hour of diagnosis and fluids should be administered to help reverse septic shock.
NICE Guidelines
NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has also recently issued Quality Statements regarding sepsis.
Quality statements by NICE are intended to improve the quality of care in high-priority areas by identifying aspirational levels of care. The new statements for sepsis are as follows:
- People with suspected sepsis are assessed using a structured set of observations to stratify risk of severe illness or death
- People with suspected sepsis in acute hospital settings and at least 1 of the criteria indicating high risk of severe illness, have the first dose of intravenous antibiotics and a review by a senior clinical decision-maker within 1 hour of being stratified.
- People with suspected sepsis in acute hospital settings who need treatment to restore cardiovascular stability have an intravenous fluid bolus within 1 hour of being stratified
- People with suspected sepsis in acute hospital settings who receive intravenous antibiotics or fluid bolus are seen by a consultant if their condition fails to respond within 1 hour of treatment
- People with suspected sepsis who have been stratified as at low risk of severe illness or death are given information about symptoms to monitor and how to access medical care
Government Campaigns
The government has also been introducing measures to broaden public awareness and improve rates of diagnosis.
Last year, the Health Secretary introduced a campaign intending to make parents more aware of what symptoms to look out for in young children who may be developing sepsis.
This month, the Health Secretary has introduced plans to try to tackle sepsis in the elderly by proposing measures to clarify sepsis symptoms in adults and raise awareness of all those who work in primary care and care homes with the elderly.
Medical Negligence
A failure on the part of medical practitioners to recognise and treat the symptoms of sepsis can produce a catastrophic outcome for the patient.
If you or a loved one have suffered due to this, you may be entitled to make a claim for compensation for your pain and suffering.
Contact Glynns Solicitors, specialists in medical negligence, to discuss your experience with an experienced solicitor.
Call us free on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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