One of Good Hope Hospital’s leading Critical Care consultants, Dr Ron Daniels, raises the bar at Westminster, calling for higher awareness of sepsis which kills 37,000 people in the UK alone each year.
Sepsis, more commonly known as blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. It can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death especially if not recognised early and treated promptly.
Dr Daniels, a leader in the field of sepsis, Chaired the day at Westminster with colleagues, healthcare leaders, patients, MPs and peer leaders in the lead-up to World Sepsis Day and the release of the Ombudsman’s Report on Friday 13 September.
Key recommendations are expected to come out of the report, with calls to professional bodies to create clearer guidance for GPs, Ambulance staff and hospital clinicians in order to recognise the development of sepsis at an early stage, enabling earlier treatment and improved outcomes, and a call to NHS England to cement sepsis’ place in the NHS Outcomes Framework as a key priority for patient safety.
Dr Daniels said: ‘We recognized the need to increase awareness and recognition of sepsis in patients and we started with the development of the Sepsis Six tool at Good Hope. The tool, created in 2006, has been taken on nationally across Scotland and Wales and will soon form part of NHS England’s priority work stream.
‘I also chair the UK Sepsis Trust which is supported by colleagues from the Hospital. We went to Westminster to announce the launch of our All Party Parliamentary Group on Sepsis which is a major achievement. Boris Johnson was with us on the day and was keen to know more about the work we are doing too. It is great to have support from such a well known public figure.’
The Report will be released on World Sepsis Day. It is the Ombudsman’s first ever clinical report, and is expected to recommend the development of a NICE clinical guideline, a public awareness campaign to be led by NHS England, and systems analysis by NHS England to ensure that Acute Care organizations can respond reliably.
