Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is promoting an international campaign to raise awareness of a life threatening condition.
World Sepsis Day takes place on 13th September every year, and is an opportunity for people to unite in the fight against sepsis through improved awareness and recognition of the condition.
Sepsis is a rare, but serious complication of an infection. Sepsis can be triggered by an infection in any part of the body. The condition may develop when you are already in hospital, for example, if you have recently had surgery or have to stay in hospital for a long time. Everybody is potentially at risk of developing sepsis; however certain people are more vulnerable such as those who have a medical condition which weakens their immune system e.g. leukaemia or HIV, are pregnant, or are genetically prone to infections.
A dedicated sepsis team was introduced at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals last year to focus on teaching and educating staff across the hospitals about identifying sepsis.
The new team is now well embedded into the organisation and has already been busy developing sepsis drop-in sessions, creating sepsis champions across the organisation, and more!
The sepsis team will be walking the wards to share information about sepsis and talk to staff about the condition. They will also be holding information stalls throughout the week next week at both Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley District Hospital for patients, visitors and staff to find out more about the team, ask for advice surrounding sepsis and find out more about the condition. Dates as follows:
• The team will be at Chorley District Hospital on Monday 9th September in the restaurant with Health Academy 3 from 11am – 2pm.
• They will then be present at Royal Preston Hospital on Tuesday 10th September from 11am – 2pm in Charters Restaurant.
• Finally, on World Sepsis Day on Friday 13th September, the team will be by the main ward block lifts at Royal Preston Hospital from 10am – 4pm.
Angela Walsh, Sepsis Lead Nurse at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “It is so important for us to have a dedicated sepsis team. Staff are trained to ensure early treatment of our patients. We’re also continuing to improve awareness and education around sepsis to prompt staff to always think of sepsis. As a team, we are very passionate about the management of sepsis, which can often be very difficult to diagnose. We work closely alongside the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) and the community to embed sepsis in all health care environments.”