SECRET KILLER’S TERRIFYING TOLL
As shocking figures reveal 4,000 Scots are killed by sepsis every year, Mail launches vital new awareness campaign
THOUSANDS are dying every year from Scotland’s ‘silent killer’ illness, the Scottish Daily Mail can reveal today.
Sepsis strikes down more than 20,000 Scots annually – killing an estimated 4,000 and leaving others maimed or with serious long-term complications – yet few people know the tell-tale symptoms which could save their lives.
Today, on World Sepsis Day, and only a week after the Scottish Government rejected calls for a nationwide awareness push, the Mail is launching a campaign urging Holyrood to take action to tackle this public health scandal.
The condition can affect anyone and can cause irreversible damage to the lungs, heart, kidneys and brain, as well as result in limbs being amputated.
Sepsis targets young and old alike and accounts for more deaths than breast and bowel cancer combined.
Despite the fact rapid treatment is key to survival, few people are aware of the
HE watched helplessly as his beloved wife suffered an agonising death from an illness he had never heard of.
Now, Jim Robertson has vowed to raise awareness of sepsis to honour the memory of tragic Liz, 61.
And today, the Scottish Daily Mail joins him in calling on the Scottish Government to roll out a nationwide education drive – a move backed by campaigners across Scotland.
Patients are not being diagnosed and treated urgently because there is little knowledge of the deadly condition.
After his wife’s death in February last year, Mr Robertson petitioned the Scottish parliament for an awareness campaign. Within 12 months, Holyrood’s public petitions committee had backed his call.
Mr Robertson, 69, is also supported by The UK Sepsis Trust.
He said: ‘Liz suffered a horrible, terrible death that will live with me for ever. I can still close my eyes and see her in agony
‘I was not aware she had sepsis. None of the doctors mentioned it to me in the nine weeks she was in hospital. I thought she had a chest infection.
‘When I discovered the results of the post-mortem, I was in shock. I thought, “What is sepsis?”. And if I didn’t know, perhaps other people don’t know.’
Mrs Robertson, a retired estate agent, died at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. Her husband believes she might have survived had doctors found the source of the sepsis, in an ovary, earlier.
Mr Robertson, a retired insurance manager from Glasgow, complained to the NHS as well as launching his campaign.
He said: ‘I will continue to fight for more awareness as my personal legacy to Liz.
‘The Scottish Government has said it has it all in place and has professional NHS training but I am not convinced enough people know about sepsis.’
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde last night apologised ‘for our failure to provide appropriate care and treatment to Mrs Robertson and communicate adequately with Mr Robertson’.
A spokesman said: ‘The family submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman, who made eight recommendations in August, which we accepted in full. These actions are being taken forward.’
The Scottish Daily Mail is now demanding that the Scottish Government acts to ensure public awareness of sepsis is on a par with that of heart attacks, cancer and strokes.
Today is World Sepsis Day and organisations worldwide will hold events to educate health workers and the public. This is a prime opportunity for the tireless efforts of Scots campaigners to be recognised, and their pleas put once again to Health Secretary Shona Robison.
Dr Ron Daniels, chief executive of The UK Sepsis Trust, said: ‘Healthcare professionals need continuing education on this because they are overloaded and we know patients present late.’
The UK Sepsis Trust also wants the NHS to change the way it records sepsis. If a patient has another illness, or a note is not made that suspected sepsis has been confirmed, cases can be lost in the system.
While the Scottish Patient Safety Programme – which aims to reduce harm in the NHS – has sepsis as a ‘priority’ in acute hospitals, maternity and children’s wards and in primary care, experts believe more can and should be done.
Deaths from sepsis have fallen by 21 per cent since January 2012 – but public knowledge is still lacking.
NHS Scotland figures suggest one in five patients diagnosed with sepsis – which used to be known as blood poisoning or septicaemia – does not receive the recommended care within the target time of an hour.
If treated aggressively within the first hour, the risk of death is halved and survival rates can be more than 80 per cent.
Treatment includes antibiotics, intravenous fluids and efforts to correct shock and restore a patient’s circulation.
Yesterday, Tory MSP Miles Briggs appealed to Miss Robison to reconsider an awareness drive.
He said: ‘The Scottish Daily Mail is absolutely right to campaign on this essential issue.
‘The SNP’s response so far has been bitterly disappointing, and I have written to Health Secretary Shona Robison asking her for a change of heart.
‘Hopefully, this campaign will help secure that.’