Better use of digital technology preventing sepsis

New ‘alert and action’ technology is being introduced in hospitals across the country to help identify sepsis and tell doctors when patients with sepsis are getting worse.

NHS England says that the technology, which uses algorithms to read patients’ vital signs and alert medics to worsening conditions that are a warning sign of sepsis, has been trialled across three hospitals ahead of the measures being rolled out across England as part of the NHS Long Term Plan.

NHS leaders in Cambridge, Liverpool and Berkshire are now helping the rest of the health service to adopt tools to spot it, which costs 37,000 lives a year and is notoriously difficult to identify. Sepsis – also known as blood poisoning – is a life-threatening response to an infection in the body, where the immune system damages tissues and organs.

Screening rates for sepsis in emergency departments have risen from 78 per cent in 2015 to 91 per cent in 2018.

This year the NHS also made it mandatory for all hospitals in England to implement national sepsis guidance, including that hospital staff must alert senior doctors if patients with suspected sepsis do not respond to treatment within an hour.

Celia Ingham Clark, medical director for clinical effectiveness at NHS England and NHS Improvement, said: “Sepsis is an extremely serious condition, but as part of the NHS Long Term Plan we have made huge improvements in spotting and treating it quickly, with more than nine in 10 people getting the checks they need.

“Now, with the help of innovative digital tools, the NHS is saving more lives by getting even better at identifying and treating sepsis. The systems at Liverpool, Cambridge and Berkshire are life-saving and as more hospitals adopt digital tools, thousands more families will be spared the harm and heartbreak of sepsis.”

Ron Daniels, CEO of the UK Sepsis Trust, said: “Any kind of technology which assists clinicians in making prompt decisions when the warning signs of sepsis are detected should be embraced; with every hour that passes before the right antibiotics are administered the risk of death increases.

“The UK Sepsis Trust welcome these initiatives, especially at such a time when the national spotlight is on the swift diagnosis and treatment of sepsis. These innovations involve technology that uses existing recognition strategies for sepsis. In the coming years, however, we expect that our improved understanding of the condition, combined with the embracing of evermore advancing technology, will ensure that we deliver the very best care to the patients who need it most urgently.”