GPs have been asked by NHS England to report sepsis-related patient safety incidents through a new online form, following a drive to audit sepsis management in all GP practices earlier this year.
NHS England has said the new National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) e-form will ‘increase opportunities’ for the NHS to learn about incidence of sepsis in primary care and ‘tackle’ patient safety risks.
In January, the Department of Health (DH) gave GP practices until March to conduct an audit of how effectively they are identifying and managing sepsis, an added workload burden that GP leaders called ‘unhelpful and unrealistic’.
The NHS England update states: ‘There are an estimated 31,000 deaths per year due to sepsis, an estimated 10,000 of which are avoidable. Improvements around initial assessment, recognition of critical illness, and timeliness of treatment could positively impact on patient outcomes.
‘Practice staff are encouraged to use the new e-form to report all incidents and near misses, increasing opportunities for the NHS to learn and take action at a national level to prevent identified patient safety risks.’
