The UK’s Health Ombudsman has said that too many people are still dying from sepsis due to “the same mistakes” highlighted more than 10 years ago.
Health Ombudsman, Rob Brehans, said that sepsis diagnosis and treatment was taking too long. In 2013, the Ombudsman looked into several sepsis deaths and concluded that patients were not being diagnosed or treated quickly enough, and a series of recommendations were made as a result.
However, in a new report, the Ombudsman found that “significant improvements” were urgently needed to avoid more deaths. In particular, he found that there were delays in spotting and treating the condition in hospital and that there were issues with insufficient staff training, poor communication, poor record-keeping, and missed opportunities for follow-up care.
Mr Brehan said:
“I’ve heard some harrowing stories about sepsis through our investigations and it frustrates and saddens me that the same mistakes we highlighted 10 years ago are still occurring.”
Sadly, he has found through his investigation that there have been a series of sepsis-related deaths that may have been avoidable.
He said:
“Crucially, NHS staff must be sepsis-aware.”
The UK Sepsis Trust estimates that around 48,000 people die each year from sepsis-related illnesses, thousands of which are thought to be preventable. They are calling for sepsis to become a “key priority” for healthcare.
CEO of the UK Sepsis Trust, Dr Ron Daniels, said:
“Although progress was certainly made in the years following the report up until the time of the pandemic, not only is it clear that there is significant opportunity for greater improvement but we are also gravely concerned that attention to sepsis is being afforded lower priority in the wake of the pandemic and in an already emburdened NHS.”
Comment
It is both worrying and saddening that not only do there continue to be issues with prompt and proper sepsis diagnosis and treatment, but that this comes after warnings and recommendations have previously been given. It shows a clear failure to learn from mistakes and take steps to ensure that entirely preventable issues and deaths do not happen.
It is of the utmost importance that this is not allowed to continue, and the UK Sepsis Trust is right to call for sepsis to become a major priority, and urgently.
What is Sepsis?
Sepsis is the immune system’s overreaction to an infection or injury. Whilst our immune system normally fights infections, sometimes it attacks the body’s organs and tissues.
Diagnosing sepsis
Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency, and it must be diagnosed and treated quickly. The UK Sepsis Trust says that patients will have a significantly increased chance of survival if sepsis is diagnosed correctly and treated within an hour of symptoms being detected.
With early diagnosis, sepsis can be treated with antibiotics. However, if not treated early, sepsis can turn into septic shock and cause organs to fail. Statistics show that five people die with sepsis every hour in the UK.
Sometimes, medical negligence can result in a missed or delayed diagnosis of sepsis. As outlined above, if a diagnosis is delayed at all, it could result in catastrophic consequences.
How can Nelsons help
Danielle Young is a Legal Director in our Medical Negligence team, which is ranked in Tier One by the independently researched publication, The Legal 500.
If you have any questions about the subjects discussed in this article, please contact Danielle or another team member in Derby, Leicester, or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online form.
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