The UK Sepsis Trust LTD

General information

About Sepsis
Sepsis claims over 44,000 lives in the United Kingdom annually- more than lung cancer, and more than breast cancer and bowel cancer combined.

Research shows that early recognition and intervention saves lives – and may save as many as 15,000 lives annually in the UK per year. To achieve this improvement requires a partnership between patients, the public, and the healthcare professions. This partnership must start with heightened awareness and understanding of the condition.

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..Early recognition and intervention saves lives..

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Patients will continue to develop sepsis. Many will require admission to Intensive Care. Many will survive, but will have spent many weeks in hospital and be left in need of psychological, social and physical support. Others will not survive, and will leave relatives and loved ones with questions, and in need of their own psychological and social support. We aim to establish support groups to begin this process.

The Sepsis Trust is proud to be associated with the Global Sepsis Alliance.

The U.K Sepsis Trust is recognised as a Charitable Organisation, registered charity number 1146234.
GuidelinesInternational evidence-based guidelines in the management of sepsis are available, yet are delivered in fewer than 1 in 5 patients in the U.K. Little research has been conducted into the process of delivering these guidelines of care.

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We intend to conduct studies, and to support others in the conduct of studies.
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We intend to conduct studies, and to support others in the conduct of studies, to identify gaps in the delivery of care and strategies to improve delivery. In determining such gaps, this will in turn inform any necessary change to education and awareness campaigns.

Recognising SepsisIf a person has more than one of a very high (or very low) temperature, a racing heart beat, rapid breathing, or is confused/slurring their speech then they may have sepsis and should seek medical attention. If any of these features exist and the skin is cool, pale or mottled, the patient has lost consciousness or has not passed water for more than 18 hours then the patient needs to be taken to hospital as soon as possible. The Global Sepsis Alliance and United Kingdom Sepsis Trust are calling for sepsis to be recognized as the medical emergency it is.

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Abnormal temperatures, racing heart beat, or confusion/slurring of speech may be signs of sepsis.
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Sepsis is a complex condition which is difficult for a junior doctor or nurse to recognize. The Sepsis Trust aims to improve the awareness of sepsis among all healthcare professionals to increase the chances of a patient with sepsis being recognized. This is the first and most crucial step, and can only be achieved through education.
Once sepsis is suspected, a healthcare worker can work through a list of criteria known as a ‘Sepsis Screening Tool’. These tools are based on criteria agreed internationally. They demand specific blood tests, measurement of the patient’s ‘vital signs’ and a suspicion of an infective cause to confirm the presence of sepsis.
While these criteria are the best we have, they are not perfect. A more precise, and easier, definition of sepsis is being sought. In the not-too-distant future we may have a set of blood tests which can be performed at the bedside to confirm or exclude sepsis. The Sepsis Trust aims to support projects to refine such systems.

Treating SepsisRecognizing that each patient is different, doctors and nurses should treat sepsis according to established standards supported by the best evidence. One of the most recent standards was produced by the international Surviving Sepsis Campaign in 2008, due to be updated in late 2012.
From the time sepsis first takes hold, healthcare workers have just 6 hours to deliver a set of interventions – known as the Resuscitation Bundle – to the patient. These tasks are complex, and require close interaction between teams in the Emergency Department, on the general ward and in Critical Care. If we get these interventions right, they have been shown to save lives. For an individual patient, this may mean a 20-30% better chance of surviving.

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..Healthcare workers have just 6 hours to deliver a set of interventions..
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Unfortunately, fewer than one fifth of patients currently receive this standard of care due to its complexity. Some of the tasks, however, are more deliverable and critical to the patient. Simple interventions – like getting the right antibiotic in within the first hour, and giving fast intravenous fluids to restore the circulation – can save lives in their own right.
For this reason, the Sepsis Trust supports the use of the Sepsis Six – a simplified package of care which can be delivered by every healthcare professional within one hour. We have shown that this facilitates delivery of the Resuscitation Bundle. The Sepsis Six is part of the training delivered by Survive Sepsis.

What Is Sepsis?Sepsis is a life threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. Sepsis leads to shock, multiple organ failure and death especially if not recognized early and treated promptly.

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Sepsis is a life threatening condition.
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An infection is the presence of a microorganism (‘germ’) in a part of the body where it can cause harm. This harm may be of little consequence, for example, a common cold, or it may be more significant, for example the pain and misery caused by an abscess. In more serious cases, sepsis develops.
When controlled, this process helps to seal off and fight an infection – for example, when you get a splinter. When this response becomes uncontrolled, inflammation affects the entire body and can lead to organ failure: this is known as the sepsis syndrome.
Therefore, sepsis is better thought of as the body’s severe response to an infection than a severe infection. Your healthcare professional can identify sepsis using a set of precise diagnostic criteria.

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..Sepsis is better thought of as the body’s severe response to an infection than a severe infection..
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Microorganisms causing sepsis are usually, but not exclusively, bacteria. It is not exactly clear why some people develop sepsis while others do not, but the type of bacteria, previous exposure to antibiotics, presence of other illnesses and genetics may all play a part.
Sepsis may be uncomplicated, in which case it may be appropriate to treat a patient at home, or it may develop into severe sepsis or septic shock. These will require care in a hospital, often involving Intensive Care.

Why Sepsis?Worldwide, sepsis kills thousands of people every single day. In the United Kingdom alone, we estimate that around 44,000 patients die each year from sepsis. To put this into perspective, this means that more people die annually from sepsis than from lung cancer, or from bowel cancer and breast cancer combined.

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..We estimate that around 44,000 UK patients die each year from sepsis..
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In the U.S, approximately 750,000 patients die annually from sepsis. The figure is probably mirrored in Europe and Australasia, and greatly exceeded in Asia and Africa. Sepsis kills millions worldwide every year.
Reducing the suffering caused by sepsis is our main drive. Also important, however, is the economic burden. Patients with sepsis occupy over 30% of our most expensive beds in U.K hospitals – in the Intensive Care Units. Irrespective of costs to the economy in terms of lost resources, sepsis costs the National Health Service over £2.5 billion annually.

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Sepsis costs the National Health Service over £2 billion annually.
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