Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to (a) better diagnose and (b) reduce the incidence of sepsis in hospitals.

Our programme of work to improve early recognition and awareness developed with the Cross System Sepsis Programme Board includes:

- A Commissioning for Quality and Innovation quality payment for sepsis focusing on prompt recognition and treatment of sepsis in people admitted to hospitals as emergencies.

- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on sepsis that highlights earlier diagnosis of sepsis including the use of National Early Warning Scoring in hospitals.

- A package of educational resources from Health Education England.

- Tools for health professionals to support diagnosis from the UK Sepsis Trust.

- Launch of the “Think sepsis” campaign in November 2016, by NHS England and the UK Sepsis Trust, a call to action to health professionals to redouble their efforts on sepsis.

- A public awareness of sepsis aimed at parents of young children from Public Health England campaign which will be launched in December 2016.

The above sepsis specific initiatives and the plans that NHS Improvement are co-ordinating to improve infection prevention and control, announced on 8 November 2016, will contribute to both improving sepsis diagnosis and reducing incidence. However, action is required across the whole health system as reducing delays in accessing medical advice and treatment will help improve patient outcomes.