Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of cases where patients that developed sepsis in hospital have resulted in (a) permanent impairment and (b) death in the last 12 months.

The Government does not hold information on the number and proportion of cases where patients that developed sepsis in hospital have resulted in permanent impairment or death. According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 25,542 deaths from sepsis in 2022.

Over recent years, the National Health Service has become much better at spotting and treating sepsis quickly. This means that more people are being identified as at risk of sepsis. Healthcare providers are encouraged to adopt the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2), which supports clinicians to identify and respond to patients at risk of acute deterioration, including those with suspected sepsis. Since 2019, NEWS2 has been implemented in 100% of ambulance trusts and all but one acute trust in England.