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Ill-health and Sepsis Awareness Policy

Policy Statement

This policy sets out {{org_field_name}}’s approach to increasing staff awareness about the signs of ill-health of people who use its services and what they should do when they have concerns that a person might be unwell. It is important that staff keep a check on people’s health and wellbeing, and any changes that they become aware of through their understanding of their needs and engagement with them.

People who use services’ vulnerabilities to different illnesses means that staff must always act promptly by reporting their concerns and seeking medical help from the GP, paramedic or telephone advice services as appropriate.

Some illnesses will require an urgent response, particularly where there is a risk of sepsis. Sepsis is a common and potentially life-threatening condition triggered by an infection which severely disrupts the body’s immune system. If it is not treated quickly it can lead to multiple organ failure and death.

Anyone can develop sepsis after injury or minor infection, but people are more at risk from sepsis developing when they are already unwell, particularly with conditions that weaken their immune system, who have wounds from accidents or who have had surgery.

Sepsis is more likely to be caused by bacterial infections, but it can also result from viral and fungal infections.

Figures show that sepsis claims more lives now than lung cancer and is second in terms of its potential to cause death only to heart failure. About a quarter of sepsis cases are known to end in people dying from it.

In many cases, sepsis can be prevented from developing and can be treated. Treatment is more likely to be successful if it is identified early in the course of the illness. Care service staff should therefore:

• be alert to the possibility of sepsis developing
• be aware of the preconditions that might result in sepsis
• be aware of possible signs of sepsis
• know how to obtain help promptly.

Procedures

1. Care staff should, through their training and supervision, understand the three stages through which the illness progresses: sepsis, severe sepsis and sepsis shock, as listed below.

Early signs of sepsis (amber warning signs)

high temperature (fever)low body temperature with chills and shiveringfast heartbeatfast breathingnot urinating for several hourspassing urine that is cloudy and smellymental confusion evidently relating to the current condition

Severe sepsis > sepsis shock (red to very red warning signs)

abnormal heart activity, eg no or little pulsevery fast breathingfeeling dizzy or faintpatches of discoloured skinskin is discoloured with possibly blue lipscontinuing lack of urinationsickness, vomiting and diarrhoeafurther changes in mental abilitypossibly the person becomes unresponsive or shows signs of emotional distresssevere muscle painchills due to rapid fall in body temperature and/or low blood pressureunconsciousness

• All such signs do not necessarily mean that the person is suffering from sepsis as opposed to something else, but the risks of it being sepsis will be present and staff must take prompt action by:
  • reporting straight away to the duty manager or nurse and/or if there is any delay
  • seeking urgent medical advice from the GP service and/or phoning 111, or where the indications are of severe sepsis or septic shock ask for the emergency ambulance service by phoning 999 with a view to the person being admitted to A&E
• When discussing the person’s symptoms with the frontline medical helpers, staff are encouraged to check if sepsis is indicated.
• People with severe sepsis and sepsis shock will nearly always require emergency medical and hospital treatment because time is of the essence for the person with sepsis.
• People whose sepsis is caught in the early stages might be treated at home or in {{org_field_name}} with full medical help. For those people, care staff will need to work with the healthcare professionals responsible to support the care being provided, which will be determined by their care and treatment plan.
• People who use services who are treated in hospital will also need a recovery plan on discharge with an assessment of the risks of recurrence and the longer term effects. Recovery will depend on the person’s health resilience and the severity of the sepsis and intensity of treatment.
• With people recovering from sepsis, care staff will need to be alert to these longer-term signs, such as the person:
  • feeling lethargic or excessively tired
  • having weak muscle movements
  • having swollen limbs or joint pain
  • having chest pains and breathlessness.

Staff will be expected to check, through the person’s care plan, the person’s progress and signs of relapse, report promptly any concerns and seek medical advice and help as necessary.

Information and Training

{{org_field_name}} has a strategy for developing awareness of the dangers of sepsis with its staff, people who use their services and their informal carers involving obtaining, distributing and making available information about the risks of sepsis.

People with any preconditions for developing sepsis as described above will be “flagged” in their care plans with an appropriate warning sign so that staff can be on extra alert for sepsis signs.

Staff are expected to study and follow the service’s approach to sepsis awareness and the risks of the person who uses services developing sepsis.

Staff receive training in sepsis awareness from healthcare professionals and/or e-learning and other sources of information. They will learn how to identify the warning signs of sepsis as set out in this policy and how to take the prompt action needed to obtain the treatment that must be given without delay if the sepsis is diagnosed.

Staff will learn how to work with healthcare professionals to implement any care plans and recovery programmes for people who use services with sepsis.

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}

Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}

Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}

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