Wolverhampton NHS trust's sepsis awareness campaign

Staff at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust had a Wear Red Day, ran a board competition, and put together a balloon arch and materials to raise awareness.

Sony Thattil, lead sepsis nurse at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust said: “It is very important that we raise awareness of sepsis as it is a really dangerous infection and if we spot the signs early we can treat it effectively.

“We have made significant improvements across the trust over the last few years including appointing a dedicated sepsis team, utilising technology to identify and manage patients who may be at risk of developing sepsis, updating clinical pathways, building an e-learning sepsis module to increase education and awareness across the trust and collaborative work with the Critical Care Outreach team to improve early recognition of the deteriorating patient.

“Overall a proactive approach and an open culture have helped drive the changes and improved sepsis recognition and performance across the organisation. We also work closely with primary care colleagues and this has helped with early pick up of patients with suspected sepsis within primary care.”

Sepsis is a poisoning of the blood, arising when the body's response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs, including infection from Covid-19.

It can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death – especially if not recognised early and treated promptly.

Symptoms in adults include slurred speech, extreme shivering, passing no urine, severe breathlessness and mottled skin. Staff urged people to call 999 or go to A&E if they or someone they know has the above symptoms.

Sepsis affects at least 245,000 people and claims 48,000 lives in the UK every year. One in five deaths worldwide are associated with sepsis.

The trust launched their campaign for World Sepsis Day on September 13. For more information, visit worldsepsisday.org/wsd2021.