Patients f lock to A&E after killer sepsis strikes in two BBC dramas
AN ACCIDENT and emergency department has been inundated by fans of two BBC dramas that have featured harrowing storylines about sepsis.
More than 80 people a day have been turning up at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, fearing they have the condition after it was featured in Call the Midwife and The Archers.
A senior nurse at the hospital said the programmes helped raise awareness of sepsis, which is sometimes referred to as septicaemia or blood poisoning, but also highlighted the ‘extreme’ side of the condition.
The spike in visitors began after an episode of The Archers late last month in which mother-of-four Nic Grundy, played by Becky Wright, died after scratching her wrist on a rusty nail. She developed what she thought was flu before her vital organs failed and doctors confirmed she had blood poisoning.
The theme continued on March 4 when nurse Barbara Hereward was killed off in Call the Midwife. The character, played by Charlotte Ritchie, had a persistent cold which took a turn for the worse.
Taken to hospital, she had a high temperature, red blotches and
‘They show the extreme side’
finally blackened fingers as she succumbed to septicaemia.
Carole Bishop, a clinical nurse specialist at Broomfield Hospital, said: ‘Anything that is raising awareness is seen as a good thing because about 60 per cent of the population don’t know what sepsis is. The trouble is, they always show the extreme side of sepsis.
‘We have seen some really good stories with patients, and their outcomes have been absolutely fantastic because they have been seen, they have been treated early and they have gone home.’
The senior nurse said the extra patients were having a knock- on effect on services. ‘It does cause issues with patients in the ambulance bay and obviously trying to move them to the area they need to be,’ she explained.
‘We get quite a few false alarms but we also get patients that have left it because they don’t want to be a nuisance.
‘They hear on the news how busy we are and they don’t want to be a bother but it is those patients who need to come in.’
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition triggered by infection and arises when the body’s immune system goes into overdrive, which can affect our organs. It kills 44,000 a year in the UK, with around a third preventable. Sepsis is notoriously difficult to diagnose until it has spread through the body. Yet it can be controlled with antibiotics if caught early enough. The risk of death rises by seven per cent for every 30-minute delay before being treated.
Last month health chiefs were accused of putting lives at risk by urging parents to take their children to a pharmacist instead of a GP’s surgery or hospital if they were suffering a ‘minor illness’.
But experts warned that the symptoms of colds or flu were often difficult to distinguish from the early stages of sepsis or meningitis.
Tell-tale signs of sepsis include a high temperature, slurred speech or confusion, extreme shivering or muscle pain, severe breathlessness and mottled or discoloured skin.
Dr Ron Daniels, chief executive of the UK Sepsis Trust, said drawing attention to the deadly condition ‘can only be a positive measure’.
He added: ‘Although dramatised depictions of the condition have exceptional popular reach, they don’t preclude the need to educate the public properly. In fact, they highlight the necessity.
‘ We require a far- reaching national public health awareness campaign that equips people with the facts they need to make informed decisions about seeking medical attention from the right professionals at the right time.
‘Earlier recognition and diagnosis of sepsis will not only prevent unnecessary deaths, it will save significant funds for the NHS by protecting patients from deterioration and serious complications.’