Quality statements - Sepsis Clinical Care Standard
The Sepsis Clinical Care Standard includes seven quality statements describing the key components of care that a patient presenting with signs and symptoms of sepsis should receive so that the risk of death or ongoing morbidity is reduced.
Quality statements
The quality statements describe the expected standard for key components of patient care. By describing what each statement means, they support:
- Patients to know what care may be offered by their healthcare system, and to make informed treatment decisions in partnership with their clinician
- Clinicians to make decisions about appropriate care
- Health service organisations to understand the policies, procedures and organisational factors that can enable the delivery of high-quality care.
Some quality statements are linked to indicators to support monitoring of quality improvement.
Follow the links below to read each quality statement in full.
Goal
To ensure that a patient presenting with signs and symptoms of sepsis is recognised early and receives coordinated, best-practice care so that the risk of death or ongoing morbidity is reduced.
Scope
The Sepsis Clinical Care Standard relates to neonatal, paediatric and adult patients (including older people) in the primary and community care, acute and non-acute settings. It relates to the patient journey from symptom onset to discharge from hospital and survivorship care.
While the standard does not provide specific guidance on the management of sepsis in patients receiving palliative or end-of-life care, this care should align with patients’ individual healthcare directives.
Healthcare settings
This standard applies to patient care in the following settings and during transitions of care:
- Ambulance, retrieval and transfer services
- Private hospitals
- Public hospitals
- Urgent care centres.
It is also relevant to patient care provided in the following settings and during transitions of care:
- Aged care homes
- Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services
- Community health services
- General practice
- Primary healthcare services.
Not all quality statements within this clinical care standard will be applicable to every healthcare service or clinical unit. Healthcare services should consider their individual circumstances in determining how to apply each statement.
Implementation should consider the context in which care is provided, and local variation and the quality improvement priorities of the individual healthcare service. In rural and remote settings, different strategies may be needed to implement the standard, such as hub-and-spoke models that integrate larger and smaller health services and using telehealth consultations.
What is not covered
Sepsis prevention, the detailed management of sepsis and associated clinical decisions are outside the scope of this clinical care standard.