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BLACKPOOL: Hospital response to sepsis death

Thursday, 1 August 2024 12:01

By Shelagh Parkinson

Hospital bosses in Blackpool say they have made ‘significant progress’ in treating sepsis since the death of a woman following her return from holiday.

Blackpool and Fylde coroner Alan Wilson has written to hospital chiefs expressing concerns over delays in treating Sandra Phillpott who died on October 31 last year after developing sepsis.

Mrs Phillpott, 57, had returned from a holiday to Egypt just five days before and was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital when her condition worsened after initially falling ill with cold-like symptoms.

Chris Barben, executive medical director at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said: “First and foremost, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Mrs Phillpott’s family and offer reassurances that significant progress has been made in identifying, treating and managing sepsis.

“The trust is three years into a multi-disciplinary project supported by experts from the Sepsis Trust, patient representatives, and several of our clinical teams.

“Improvements so far achieved include the deployment of specialised sepsis trolleys into key areas of the hospital such as the emergency department, and the introduction of sepsis ‘grab bags’ on the wards, which contain essential equipment to start treatment.

“Colleagues were present during the inquest and acknowledged the coroner’s finding of death by natural causes.

“There are clear points of learning we have noted from the coroner’s report and will be working with our teams across the trust to ensure we continue to improve our response to sepsis and the treatment for our patients.”

Mr Wilson has issued a prevention of future deaths report following the inquest into Mrs Phllpott’s death which was held on July 5 this year and found she died from natural causes, including organ failure.

In his report, he said antibiotics”were not administered in a timely fashion”.

Although other factors meant Mrs Phillpott was already too ill to survive, Mr Wilson warned “in my view there remains a risk that sepsis will go unrecognised, and urgent treatment will be delayed, putting patients attending Blackpool Victoria Hospital at risk”.

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