An NHS trust is carrying out a review into how it recognises and treats sepsis following the deaths of two young patients in cases where this extreme reaction to infection was involved.<\/p>\n
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) said two youngsters had died in cases involving sepsis in the past 12 months and as a result it was seeking to “improve how we recognise and respond to sepsis”.<\/p>\n
Sepsis, where the body overreacts to infection, can develop and progress rapidly and be life-threatening, the trust said. <\/p>\n
“We want to make sure we are doing everything we can to provide the safest possible care for children and young people,” a CDDFT spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
About 150 sepsis-related child deaths occur each year in England, according to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE).<\/p>\n
CDDFT said it was looking at the care it had provided to the two young people who had died to see whether anything could have been done differently.<\/p>\n
In a report the trust said the two deaths had led to concerns about the “observations and the recognition and the escalation of sepsis”.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said it was improving staff training, education and awareness on sepsis and was seeking to ensure that national sepsis screening tools were used consistently.<\/p>\n
“We will continue to monitor progress through our clinical governance processes and act on any further improvements identified through the review,” they said.<\/p>\n
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