Data reveals hospital sepsis deaths 'jump by a third'

The Dr Foster research unit at Imperial College in London has found that sepsis deaths have risen by more than a third in England's hospitals in two years.

Prof Sir Brian Jarman’s research found that in the year ending April 2017, there were 15,722 deaths in hospital or within 30 days of discharge, where sepsis was the leading cause. This has been attributed to more conditions being classed as sepsis than before, which NHS England has reiterated in light of the figures, as well as staff shortages and overcrowding on wards.

Foster hopes that his data can be used to improve the survival chances of hospital patients who developed sepsis, which can lead to multiple organ failure if not treated quickly, mainly though alerts that he sends to hospitals that are falling behind.

According to the UK Sepsis Trust, sepsis is one of the most common causes of death in the UK, responsible for killing up to 44,000 people a year, both in the hospital and in the community. However, hospital records make it almost impossible to keep track of the true number of deaths.

Speaking to the Today programme, Foster said: "Some of those hospitals with a lower death rate have got particular ways of reducing mortality from septicaemia, which the others we hope might learn from, and also we hope that by giving them this alert, within a month or two of the actual happening, they can actually get in there and do something quickly."