National sepsis audit part of plans to significantly reduce deaths

Getty/baytunc

By Sarah Lowden

A new national infection and sepsis audit is to be commissioned by NHS England, as part of a 10-year strategy to reduce deaths and lasting complications for patients by at least a quarter.

The audit, which will begin with the acute sector, will work alongside existing audits to gather information on prevalence and incidence of sepsis and be used to help measure the performance of trusts.

NHS England (NHSE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSE) said all acute providers would need to participate, with community care providers potentially doing so in the future.

The initial details are outlined in the government’s ‘sepsis modern service framework’, published this week, which sets out 14 action areas covering prevention, diagnosis, treatment, research and innovation.

The document states that tackling sepsis is a priority because it is a significant cause of death and ill-health, there are inequalities in care and health outcomes despite national guidance and improvement programmes already in place, and it is putting “significant and growing pressure” on the NHS.