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The George Institute/Sepsis Australia and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care are currently planning for the National Sepsis Program (Phase 2 ‘Extension’) that will build on the work achieved in the National Sepsis Program (Phase 1) which saw the launch of the national Sepsis Clinical care Standard. March 2024 is the planned commencement for the Phase 2 program will comprise of five key projects:
Program Governance will include the:
Regular updates will be provided each month to keep you up to date.
In the meantime for more information see:
https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/national-sepsis-program
After a small scratch from his puppy, Jake developed a drug-resistant infection, which lead to sepsis. Read more about Jake’s experience, the rise of antimicrobial resistance and the overuse of antibiotics in Australia, here.
The nation’s latest major report on antimicrobial use and resistances has revealed that Australia is heading in the right direction – but there’s still a lot of work to do.
AURA 2023: Fifth Australian report on antimicrobial use and resistance in human health was released by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on 16 November 2023.
The report highlights trends and analyses in antimicrobial use in hospitals, aged care and primary care settings, as well as changes in resistance that are important for infection prevention and control, and antimicrobial prescribing.
Early treatment with antibiotics can stop sepsis & antimicrobial resistance can be avoided with good antimicrobial stewardship.
Find out more and read the full report here.
Last week a report from the from the UK National Health Service (NHS) ombudsman warned that sepsis is still killing too many patients. The report details avoidable mistakes and makes recommendations to improve patient safety. Read the full article from the Guardian.
Sepsis Australia Program Head, Associate Professor Naomi Hammond commented:
“The parliamentary and health service ombudsman (PHSO) report of sepsis cases in the NHS is an all too familiar story across healthcare settings globally. In an effort to improve recognition and response to sepsis in the Australian healthcare system, a National Sepsis Clinical Care Standard has been developed and released by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare in partnership with Sepsis Australia and The George Institute for Global Health. The goal of the sepsis standard is to ensure patients presenting to any health care setting with signs and symptoms of sepsis receive the optimal care, from symptom onset through to discharge from hospital into the community.”
Find out more about the National Sepsis Clinical Care Standard.
Sepsis Australia Advocacy Group member, Mandy, discusses her experience of Strep A and sepsis in this clip from The Project. We also hear from infectious disease expert Professor Sanjaya Senanayake about the symptoms and signs to look out for.
Mandy and fellow amputee, Korrin Barrett now run the Quad Squad – the world’s only support group for people specifically missing all four limbs. The Quad Squad meets biannually in Australia and is a place where quadruple amputees share tips, ideas, hear from industry experts and support one another.
You can get in touch with Mandy or the Quad Squad through her website or Facebook.
Sepsis Survivor, Caitlin Alsop, nearly lost her life to a dental infection. Five years on she has launched the FACE Sepsis Project. A pioneering dental sepsis education program for dental and primary care, developed by Caitlin in partnership with Sepsis Australia.
Click here to find out more and book Caitlin for your staff training.
This research project is a phenomenological study seeking to understand the lived experience and perception of non-clinical persons who are ‘known and familiar’ with an older adult who has been diagnosed with sepsis. Interviewing with each individual participant is expected to take an average 45-60 mins. The benefit and potential impact in doing this specific research is the following:
All of this being consistent with this contemporary movement on patient and consumer involvement.
For more information please see the Participant Information Sheet at: Participant Interview_Information_Sheet
This week: Professor Tex Kissoon, President Global Sepsis Alliance presents ‘Decreasing Burden Through Prevention’
The Pocketbook of Sepsis is launching in January 2023: Global experts, Global Impact.
The burden imposed by sepsis in Switzerland contrasts with the lack in public awareness, insufficient
institutional efforts to reduce sepsis, as well as absence of national coordination and monitoring to
reduce the impact of sepsis. Sepsis has often been called a disease of systematic failure to
learn.
Root-cause-analyses of patients who die of sepsis commonly reveal reoccurring patterns of
delayed presentation by patients and families due to lack of awareness, delayed recognition by
healthcare staff, and missed opportunities for effective interventions once sepsis is recognized. In
addition, survivors and family members are often left poorly informed about sepsis and its long-term
sequelae which are not appropriately addressed by existing support structures. Other healthcare
systems have summarized these challenges unique to sepsis as the combined effect of a lack of:
– Awareness and education of the public and healthcare workforce
– Standards and pathways for sepsis recognition and treatment
– Follow-up systems for survivor and family support and rehabilitation
In response to that gap, recently, a group of sepsis experts across Switzerland formed a national
multidisciplinary panel to identify the need, gaps, and strategies to address sepsis in Switzerland.
Subsequently, in June 2022 key stakeholders convened at a policy roundtable in Berne
to address the pressing need to improve awareness, prevention, and treatment of sepsis in
Switzerland. Participants included clinical, academic and policy professionals as well as sepsis
survivors from different regions in Switzerland.
The format and processes used to convene the round table and reach consensus on national priorities, to inform the SWISS Sepsis National Action Plan 2022, were based on those used by Sepsis Australia (then the Australian Sepsis Network) in 2017 to Australian Stopping Sepsis National Action Plan https://www.australiansepsisnetwork.net.au/home/ssnap-2
The goal of the roundtable was to formulate a set of consensus recommendations towards creating a Sepsis National Action Plan in Switzerland. The report Swiss Sepsis National Action Plan (SSNAP) September 2022 sets out an action plan to drive improvements in the treatment and recovery of patients with sepsis focusing on four overarching recommendations:
1. Launch a sepsis awareness and education campaign targeting the public, as well as the healthcare workforce.
2. Establish and implement a minimal national standard for the detection, treatment, and follow-up of sepsis.
3. Establish and implement support systems for sepsis survivors and for families affected by sepsis.
4. Promote national sepsis research including healthcare service, translational, and basic science research.
These overarching priorities reflect not only the Australian experience but also global priorities stipulated in the 2017 World Health Assembly Sepsis Resolution 70.7.
Read more here: Swiss-Sepsis-Action-Plan 2022
Sepsis kills 11 million people every year, often due to the lack of safe & effective antimicrobials to treat it.
The best defence against sepsis is strong health systems.
On World Sepsis Day, WHO calls on countries to deliver safer, cleaner & better quality care to save lives.
See more at: WHO WSD Video