Evidence suggests that implementing an effective and sustainable program to address severe sepsis requires a dedicated team. St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals (StHK) established a team of sepsis nurse specialists to deliver a 24 hour service to identify diagnose and treat patients with sepsis.
The team focus on clinical care provision in ED, learning from case reviews and educating staff across the trust. The introduction of a specialist team has supported the work of the trust to increase the proportions of patients being screened for sepsis, the timely treatment of patients and reduced hospital mortality and the readmission rate for people with sepsis.
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust provide a full range of acute and intermediate healthcare services across sites at St Helens, Whiston and Newton hospitals, including inpatient, outpatient, and intermediate care, maternity and emergency services. The trust identified the need to ensure it had a co-ordinated and consistent response to diagnose and treat people with sepsis early. In 2016 the trust made the decision to establish a dedicated sepsis team of sepsis nurse specialists and is led by an Emergency Department Consultant.
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