More than 80% of patients who have signs of a deadly sepsis infection before high-risk surgery are not getting antibiotics fast enough, a major NHS report has warned.
Sepsis kills an estimated 44,000 people in England every year and rapid access to antibiotics within the first hour after diagnosis is vital to halt the infection. However, a review of performance across 179 NHS hospitals has found a majority of patients undergoing emergency bowel surgery are not getting medication early enough. A leak of the bowel can cause sepsis and while antibiotics will help treat the infection, surgery is essential to repair any sepsis-causing leak.
The Royal College of Anaesthetists, which carried out the study for the NHS, said although the number of patients getting surgery in time had improved over the last five years, the numbers receiving antibiotics within an hour had not.
Source: The Independent, 4 January 2020
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