Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in the UK have been diagnosed with sepsis in the last 12 months.

There is a lack of reliable estimates of the incidence and prevalence of sepsis, due to the inconsistency in the definitions used to describe sepsis, and the differences in coding between professionals and organisations in the United Kingdom.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes data on the number of death registrations where sepsis was the underlying cause of death, and where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, for England and Wales between 2001 and 2023. According to the ONS, in 2023, the number of deaths registered where sepsis was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate in England and Wales was 26,203. The ONS has not yet published the number of death registrations for sepsis for 2024. The published ONS data for deaths involving sepsis is available at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/2111deathsinvolvingsepsisenglandandwales2001to2023

The Department continues to work with NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency to improve our understanding of sepsis data and to monitor trends in infection incidence and deaths from sepsis, which are complex and multifactorial.