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NHS forced to admit sepsis guidance is ‘difficult’ as GPs switch off alerts

NHS England has appeared to roll back on guidance for GPs to identify and treat sepsis following criticism that GPs were suffering from ‘alert fatigue’.

Commissioning guidance released in September conceded that ‘some front line staff have found it difficult to translate’ NICE guidance into practice.

It clarified that the application of the NICE guidelines is ‘not mandatory’, and that the ‘use of clinical judgement is a critical component’.

GP leaders said that GPs were suffering from ‘alert fatigue’, after the NICE guidance was embedded into IT systems, leading to repeated computer warnings.

The Government drive began two years ago with a string of measures designed to make GPs ‘think sepsis’, after a series of high-profile deaths, including asking GPs to conduct a ‘sepsis audit’.

The 2015 sepsis action plan suggested GPs have limited ability ‘to distinguish between sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock’ and urged doctors to use screening tools to help differentiate simple infection from something more serious.

In 2016, NICE published guidelines urging GPs to treat signs of sepsis in the same way as chest pain and including large tables of symptoms and signs that were translated into electronic alerts embedded into GP systems.

However, BMA GP Committee prescribing lead Dr Andrew Green said these electronic alerts represented ‘a lesson in how not to use IT’.

Dr Green said: ‘The largest problem with it is the low threshold for sending an alert. The result is that these alerts are ignored. Should that “suspected UTI” patient go on to have sepsis, GPs may find themselves having to justify why they did not take action earlier.

‘Inquests where people have ignored warnings rarely look at the contribution of alert-fatigue.’

Dr Ron Daniels, chief executive of the Sepsis Trust, which helped drive the sepsis action plans, admitted the alerts were implemented ‘hastily’ and have backfired in some cases.

He said: ‘We’re aware of anecdotal cases where GPs have found the systems very helpful in clinical decision making, but we’ve also heard of cases where GPs decided to turn off the alerts.’

RCGP clinical champion for sepsis Dr Simon Stockley said there must be greater recognition of the importance of clinical judgement in assessing the risk of infection – mirroring the recent NHS England advice that he co-authored.

Dr Stockley said: ‘The numbers will not always give you the right answer, which is why the clinical systems tend to over trigger. You should always use your clinical judgement to weigh the risk.’

The latest NHS England guidance, released last month, says: ’NICE guidance on sepsis was published in 2016 and provides an evidence-based approach to recognising and initiating treatment for suspected sepsis. However, some front line staff have found it difficult to translate this guidance into practice.’

It adds: ‘The application of the recommendations in the NICE guideline NG51 is not mandatory and the use of clinical judgement is a critical component.’

In a separate piece of guidance issued last month, NHS England said it will ‘work with GP software providers to update their sepsis alert algorithms’.


          

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