Sepsis patients should be treated with an hour, NICE directs

A new draft quality standard from NICE has called on hospital staff to ensure people showing signs of sepsis are given the right treatment within an hour.

The guidance stresses that staff including GPs and paramedics should check people for specific signs that will show if their symptoms are life-threatening. This includes taking their temperature or heart rate, or checking for rashes and skin discolouration.

It advises that anyone found to be high-risk should be seen by senior hospital staff immediately. This review would be carried out by an available doctor or nurse who is authorised to prescribe antibiotics.

Professor Gillian Leng, NICE deputy chief executive, commented: “Severe symptoms can develop in sepsis very quickly. If high-risk patients are not identified and treated promptly, people can be left with debilitating problems. In the worst cases, they may die.

“This quality standard highlights priorities in the continued fight to improve sepsis care. We know from recent case reviews that there are inconsistencies in how people’s symptoms are assessed in different settings. More can be done to provide rapid treatment.”

Dr Ron Daniels BEM, chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, added: “An emphasis on timely treatment and diagnosis is crucial if we are to improve outcomes for people with sepsis, and this quality standard could be a hugely impactful reinforcement of the recent guideline recommendation that sepsis is treated with same urgency as heart attacks.”