NHS faces renewed warning over killer

Thousands of patients are still unnecessarily dying from sepsis despite calls to improve the care of patients with the condition, it was claimed yesterday.

Opportunities to save lives lost to sepsis are being missed because the NHS has not made enough progress in improving care for those affected, the Parliamentary Health Service Ombudsman said.

A year ago the Ombudsman made a series of recommendations to increase awareness and improve the care of people with the condition after a report concluded that too many sepsis patients were not being cared for adequately.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

While some progress has been made, the pace of change in the health services is “concerning”, Ombudsman Dame Julie Mellor said yesterday.

She said: “We know that most lives are lost during the first few hours of arrival in hospital and so need quicker diagnosis and treatment or else thousands more lives will be lost unnecessarily through this devastating condition.”

Sepsis is triggered by an infection. When someone has sepsis their body goes into overdrive which can lead to a reduced blood supply to vital organs such as the brain, heart and kidneys. If not treated promptly it can lead to multiple organ failure and death.

NHS figures show every year in the UK around 100,000 people are admitted to hospital with sepsis and around 37,000 people die.

Related topics: