Shropshire health bosses talk at conference on sepsis
Shropshire health bosses spoke about the public health challenge caused by sepsis at a special conference organised by Staffordshire University this week.
Professor Rod Thompson, director of public health, was speaking at the Could it Be Sepsis? event which took place at the Shropshire Education and Conference Centre on the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital site.
He called for a “step change in the way we deal with sepsis” and said not enough of the health service budget was directed towards prevention of serious conditions like sepsis which claimed more UK lives than lung cancer.
Dr Simon Chapple, medical director of Shropshire Doctors Cooperative, emphasised the very real need to listen to patients and their families who were presenting with symptoms likely to be sepsis.
Health workers from care homes and GP surgeries throughout Shropshire joined student nurses and other healthcare professionals at the conference which also included presentations from Dr Ron Daniels of the UK Sepsis Trust and sepsis survivor John McCarthy.
Organiser Mike Phillips, associate dean in the school of health and social care, said: “Staffordshire University is intent on improving the health of people living in our communities and the more people who are informed about the early warning signs of a potentially life-threatening condition like Sepsis, the better.
“It is estimated that sepsis kills five people every hour in the UK. With earlier recognition and treatment, the UK Sepsis Trust suggest that 25 per cent of these deaths could be avoided.”
Other conference speakers included critical care nurse Louise Ingrouille-Grove and medical director Dr Edwin Borman from Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
