The BBC has this week reported that patients’ lives are being put at risk because of delays in giving treatment for sepsis.
What is sepsis?
Sepsis is triggered by infection and develops because of an over-reaction by the immune system. The immune system will usually prevent an infection from spreading, but if your immune system is weak or an infection is particularly severe, it can quickly spread through the blood into other parts of the body. If the infection does so, the immune system will start a response to fight it, which can have serious effects on the body, which can lead to septic shock, organ failure and potentially death.
Sepsis can be hard to spot and to deal with this, hospitals have been given detailed guidance on how to monitor and treat patients.
The Sepsis Trust believes that there are around 250,000 cases of sepsis in the UK each year.
BBC report into hospitals treating sepsis
When sepsis is suspected, the patient should be put on an antibiotic drip within an hour.
However, the BBC report into hospitals treating sepsis suggests that in reality, around a quarter of patients in England are waiting longer. In some hospitals, over half of patients face delays.
Delays in treatment raise the chance of complications occurring.
For the past 3 years, hospitals in England have been reporting on how well they are identifying and treating sepsis. The BBC has now analysed the figures from more than 100 trusts and their findings indicated that approximately 75% of patients received the recommended antibiotic treatment within an hour.
However, there were significant variations from NHS trust to trust, with a number failing to treat most of their patients within the hour.
Quick treatment is vital when sepsis is suspected as it increases the chance of survival.
Dr Daniels from The UK Sepsis Trust said that the one-hour window was…
“essential to increase the chances of survival. There is no reason really why it should take longer.”
Comment
Sepsis has been in the press frequently over the past few years. With early diagnosis and treatment, full recovery should be possible and much has been done to highlight the need to quickly and effectively deal with sepsis as soon as it is suspected.
The reported findings from the BBC, therefore, make for very worrying reading and demonstrate that there is much more to be done. It is now vital that the NHS take on board the findings and consider what further steps need to be implemented to prevent further avoidable deaths.
How Can Nelsons Help?
Danielle Young is an Associate in our Medical Negligence team.
If you have any questions in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, then please get in touch with Danielle or another member of the team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.