By Sophie Borland Health Editor For The Daily Mail
Published: 00:00 GMT, 11 March 2019 | Updated: 00:00 GMT, 11 March 2019
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Hospitals could be fined for failing to spot and treat the ‘silent killer’ sepsis under new guidelines.
Staff are being told to be extra vigilant for symptoms of the condition in patients at A&E and on wards.
Junior doctors will also be obliged to tell consultants if patients diagnosed with sepsis haven’t responded to drugs within an hour.
![The condition is known as the silent killer because it is notoriously difficult to diagnose and patients’ risk of death significantly increases for every hour they are not given antibiotics. Staff are being told to be extra vigilant for symptoms of the condition in patients at A&E and on wards [File photo]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/10/23/10816438-0-The_condition_is_known_as_the_silent_killer_because_it_is_notori-m-17_1552261437919.jpg)
The condition is known as the silent killer because it is notoriously difficult to diagnose and patients’ risk of death significantly increases for every hour they are not given antibiotics. Staff are being told to be extra vigilant for symptoms of the condition in patients at A&E and on wards [File photo]
The guidelines, which take effect from April 1, will be enforced by local health trusts, now known as Clinical Commissioning Groups. CCGs will have the power to withhold funding from hospitals if sepsis care is poor.
There are about 250,000 cases of sepsis in the UK each year. The condition is the country’s leading cause of avoidable death, with total fatalities reaching 52,000 a year – although this may well be an underestimate.
Sepsis occurs when the body overreacts to an everyday infection or virus, and it is commonly triggered by a skin infection, chest infection or the flu.
Melissa Mead carried her son’s ashes in a teddy bear as she was awarded an MBE earlier this year for her work raising awareness of sepsis. The Daily Mail has been campaigning to improve sepsis care since 2016, following the tragic case of
