Sepsis is an indiscriminate, life-threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. There are some shocking statistics associated with sepsis, which accounts for around 11 million deaths worldwide annually, whilst here in the UK, five people die from sepsis every hour. 40% of people who develop sepsis are estimated to suffer cognitive, physical and/or psychological after-effects.

Such is the significance of sepsis that the CQC expects that all practice staff can recognise and respond to an acutely unwell or deteriorating patient who may have sepsis. Staff can complete the sepsis eLearning course available through the Learning Package, accessible in the HUB.

But amongst the public, there’s a lack of knowledge and awareness of sepsis, which makes sepsis the number-one preventable cause of death worldwide. So, clearly there’s a need to raise awareness amongst our patient populations, providing them with easily accessible advice, such as links on the practice website or information in patient leaflets.

If you’re now thinking, “What can my practice do to raise awareness?”, then read on. Thankfully, you don’t have to start from scratch as the Global Sepsis Alliance was established in 2012, and every year on 13^th September, World Sepsis Day (WSD) is held. This is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of sepsis amongst your teams, your patients, their families and carers.

There are so many things you can do to become involved in World Sepsis Day and join the fight against sepsis, such as:

• Signing the WSD declaration
• Using the toolkits and infographics
• Joining the Global Sepsis Alliance
• Promoting awareness using social media

You can also do something within your practice such as hosting a ‘Make, Bake and Celebrate’ coffee morning, as suggested by The UK Sepsis Trust; this can involve both staff and patients and is a great way to raise awareness. Don’t forget to share what you’re doing on social media and keep photographs as evidence to show the CQC what you’ve done – a great tick in the box for patient engagement and support!

So, make 2023 the year you join over 7,000 organisations worldwide and host your own sepsis awareness event.

#WorldSepsisDay #SepsisPrevention