The guidance (www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG51) urges doctors, nurses and paramedics to consider sepsis early on when treating any patients unwell with infections. The question, ‘could this be sepsis?’, must be at the forefront of their mind when examining and taking a history from the patient.
With sepsis it is critical that treatment is administered as soon as possible, because delay can lead to severe organ failure, shock and death. Sadly it is often missed, and early intervention can be the difference between life and death.
The patient can present with an initial problem, which can be quite mild and start anywhere. Examples could be from a cut finger or a chest / urine infection. Sometimes the patient’s condition can deteriorate and typical presentations would be rapid breathing, pain and generally feeling unwell. This deterioration could be the developing sepsis. This is due to the body’s own natural immune system overreacting in its efforts to overcome the initial infection.
If left untreated, sepsis sets off a cascade of reactions - from shock to organ failure and even death. The outcome, from a lack of timely diagnosis and treatment of sepsis, can be catastrophic for patients and their families.
At Anthony Collins Solicitors, we have a specialist clinical negligence and personal injury team who represent patients and their families that have suffered significant injuries, and in some case the tragic loss of a loved one. All of this could be avoided with a timely consideration, by a doctor or paramedic, of the possibility of sepsis as a cause for the presenting symptoms and an immediate referral to hospital.
Sepsis can develop in both adults and children. The difficulties with diagnosis in children is difficult and the publication of the new NICE guidelines coincides with a safety alert from NHS Improvement calling for reform to prevent children deteriorating unnoticed in hospitals from conditions, such as sepsis. We have welcomed the raising of awareness of these issues through these new guidelines, which will hopefully go some way to preventing injury and saving lives.
If you, or someone you know, want to know more about the services we provide, and how we have successfully brought claims against hospitals and GPs in instances where there may have been a delay in diagnosis of a medical causing an injury or a death, then please contact us. We are happy to talk to you on a free no obligation basis.
Further information
If you require any further information or wish to speak to any of our team, please contact us on 0121 200 3242 or email us at sarah.huntbach@anthonycollins.com
Natalie Barbosa summarises some of the legal challenges facing fundraisers in the charity sector.
We hosted a breakfast roundtable with Insider Midlands magazine that had attendees from a range of organisations addressing housing needs in the Midlands. The discussion explored JVs in more detail.
The decision of the Court of Appeal in The Harpur Trust v Brazel & Unison has made clear that employers can no longer legally calculate part-time holiday based on 12.07% of hours worked over a year.
Social landlords are seeing a rising number of Equality Act defences to possession proceedings. A recent Court of Appeal decision helps shift the likelihood of such defences succeeding.
On 31 July, the consultation period ended on MHCLG’s proposals for reforming the building safety regulatory system set out in the 'Building a Safer Future' document. We have submitted our response.
For decades now, fewer and fewer services provided by local authorities have been delivered directly by them. However, over the last couple of years, there are signs that this tide is changing.
The Government commissioned an independent review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in July 2018. The outcome was published in May 2019 which highlighted areas for improvement.
In 2017, the NCVO commissioned a review of the tax reliefs available to charities. The brainchild of this review was published on 17 July 2019 in the form of the Charity Tax Commission report.
In 2014, the Charity Commission released its first guidance for charities on reporting serious incidents. The Commission has recently updated this guidance.
In the third part of our series on contract management pitfalls, we look at the risks and opportunities presented by instructing changes under construction contracts.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.