London hospital first in UK to offer A&E patients sepsis video
Parents whose children attend A&E with fever or a suspected infection are being shown a video on sepsis before being discharged.
Northwick Park is the first hospital in the country to make patients watch the four minute video so they can spot potential danger signs if their child’s condition worsens.
Lauren Fraser, a Paediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant at the hospital who helped produce the video, said: “It’s a great way of reassuring parents as there has been a lot about sepsis in the media recently.
“In children, it’s a rare complication of infection but can be treated effectively with antibiotics if caught early enough.
“There are a number of signs if you know what you are looking for and knowing what these are both reassures parents and helps us by avoiding unnecessary A&E attendances.”
Warning signs for children with a fever include abnormal drowsiness, rapid breathing, a rash that doesn’t fade when you press it that and mottled pale skin.
A&E registrar Gurdev Sond added: “We see more than 222 children a month with fevers in A&E and the majority recover with no complication.
“In the past year, we’ve dealt with 2,168 cases but can minimise that risk with the help of the public.”
Spotting the Signs of Sepsis, which is produced by NHS England, ASK SNIFF and the Health Innovation Network in collaboration with the UK Sepsis Trust is available in 15 languages.