Wolverhampton NHS trust strengthen team in fight against sepsis

Sepsis is a poisoning of the blood after a serious complication with an infection and it can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death – especially if not recognised early and treated promptly.

Now, the The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust has strengthened its team by appointing two medical leads and two sepsis specialist nurses to increase awareness, provide training and monitor performance.

Wards in the trust’s hospitals have been using a new electronic trigger system which helps to identify symptoms of sepsis early and give patients quick treatment.

Sepsis symptoms in adults include slurred speech, extreme shivering, passing no urine, severe breathlessness and mottled skin.

Improvements

Jonathan Odum, medical director, said: “Our focus on sepsis recognition has seen significant improvements across the trust over the two years.

“We have introduced an electronic feature to capture patient observations that trigger a sepsis risk and act as a prompt for staff to screen patients for sepsis and administer antibiotics within an hour.

“Standardised hospital mortality index (SHMI) for sepsis, which is a more sensitive mortality indicator, has improved by 8 per cent since 2015-16. Overall a proactive approach and an open culture have helped drive the changes and improved sepsis recognition and performance across the organisation.

“We are working closely with primary care colleagues and this will help with early pick up of patients with suspected sepsis within primary care.”

The trust also has dedicated sepsis training and an education programme specifically designed for junior doctors, nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants.

The Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is

providing daily data to clinical teams on sepsis screening, treatment times and how many patients are treated within 60 minutes.