Communiqué 4: National Sepsis Program Oversight Group – July 2024

National Sepsis Oversight Group

The Oversight Group is chaired by Conjoint Associate Professor Carolyn Hullick, Chief Medical Officer at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission). The Oversight Group met for the fourth time on 25 July 2024. 

Members discussed the national targeted public awareness campaign for sepsis and noted: 

• The campaign’s call to action directed people to Sepsis Australia and Healthdirect in the first instance, with presentation at hospital only recommended for people with suspected sepsis. 
• Initial attention created through a social media challenge would be used to engage established media channels best suited to reach target audiences, including First Nations and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) populations, for example, trusted radio and news channels. 
• New resources developed in collaboration with states and territory health services that guide healthcare workers if a patient/parent or carer asks, ‘could it be sepsis?” 

Members also discussed: 

• The complexity of measuring sepsis, including data limitations associated with variations in reporting and recording sepsis in patient records, discharge summaries and death certificates; the use of implicit and explicit sepsis codes in data analysis; and data access and sharing. Members noted that the Commission will need to consider data limitations when scoping the work to develop a National Sepsis Data Plan. 
• Examples of post neonatal ICU and paediatric ICU models of care to identify key elements also relevant to post sepsis models of care. Presentations from Dr Naomi Spotswood and Associate Professor Debra Long highlighted the need to bridge the hospital-community interface, the importance of clear care pathways and inclusion of the acute care team within follow-up.

The George Institute for Global Health (TGI) provided an update on sepsis initiatives: 

• The Global Sepsis Alliance has collated contemporary sepsis data to raise awareness across United Nations countries. A review of the Global Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) guidelines is underway with contributions from sepsis survivors. Publication is anticipated in March 2025. 
• The National Sepsis Action Plan, developed in 2016 is being reviewed. Initial consultation began at the Sepsis Australia Consumer Forum on 10 September 2024. 
• TGI recently presented at the Australian Primary Health Association Conference in Adelaide and collaborated on a sepsis photo exhibition. TGI’s research program now includes a new post sepsis models of care project. 

Next steps

World Sepsis Day resources, including 2024 national public awareness campaign materials and new clinical resources are available on the Commission’s National Sepsis Program Web Page. 

Enquiries

If you would like to be added to the distribution list for this Communiqué, please email sepsis@safetyandquality.gov.au.