Care workers placed on high alert to spot symptoms

CARE home staff and pharmacists will be trained to look out for sepsis under new guidelines from UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Staff in England and Wales will be taught to look for symptoms of rapid breathing, a fast heart rate, raised temperature or a rash.

The Health Secretary wants to boost massively the awareness of sepsis, which kills 37,000 in England a year. He is also publishing new guidelines online for parents telling them how to spot the warning signs in children.

Mr Hunt said that, although the NHS in England and Wales had made substantial advances in the past two years, there was still work to be done.

‘We want the NHS to be the safest healthcare system in the world and our ability to diagnose and treat sepsis effectively is a key litmus test of progress,’ he said.

‘While the NHS has taken major steps in recent years to improve how it responds to sepsis – actions that have saved nearly a thousand lives – there is still more work to do to protect the many thousands who develop this dangerous condition each year.

‘We need every part of our health system on the highest possible alert for sepsis and this new plan will ensure more health professionals get the training, advice and targeted support to tackle this silent killer.’

Figures this week showed that one in four NHS hospitals is failing to treat at least half of sepsis patients within the recommended time.

NHS guidelines state that patients suspected of having the condition should be given antibiotics within one hour.

Sir Bruce Keogh, national medical director for NHS England, said:

‘Sepsis is the body’s natural response to overwhelming infection. It is treacherous because it can be difficult to diagnose in its early stages and difficult to treat if not diagnosed early.

‘It is frightening for families and challenging for clinicians, so NHS England is supporting hospitals to make sure that the right resources are in place to make it easier for clinicians to diagnose sepsis and treat it really quickly.’

Under the new guidelines, pharmacists and care home staff will be taught about the symptoms of sepsis as part of their mandatory training on first aid and resuscitation.

The Department of Health is also considering whether to introduce extra sepsis training for pharmacists during their degree course.

There are approximately 123,000 cases of sepsis in England a year and children and the elderly are most at risk.