Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care: ‘Prevalence of sepsis worse than we thought’

One in seven sepsis cases resulted in a hospital death in 2022-23, according to a new report revealing sepsis is more prevalent and deadly than previously understood.

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care investigated the “sepsis patient journey”, when a person is admitted to a public hospital with sepsis in Australia.

More than 900,000 sepsis-related hospital admissions were analysed from public hospital between 2013-14 and 2022-23.

Among the key findings were the impacts of complex pre-existing conditions on sepsis risk. In 2022-23, one in three people in hospital for sepsis also had diabetes, and one in six had kidney disease or cancer.

Three in four admissions were from the emergency department, and one in four admissions had a stint in intensive care.

The commission also found the scale of sepsis has been woefully underestimated, with 84,000 admissions in 2022-23 alone — significantly greater than the previous estimate of 55,000 people affected per year.

Socioeconomic disadvantage and those living in rural areas also contributed to an increased risk of re-admission with sepsis, while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were twice as likely to be admitted to hospital with sepsis.

It’s prompted renewed calls for improving early detection and clinical care of the deadly condition, as well as better data quality across the healthcare system.

The commission’s chief medical officer Carolyn Hullick said the findings plainly demonstrate the need for early intervention.

“The link between complex chronic illness, socioeconomic disadvantage and higher rates of sepsis must shape how we deliver care. This data gives us a clearer picture of who is most at risk and how to intervene earlier,” Conjoint Professor Hullick said.

With the average cost of one sepsis hospital admission increasing 50 per cent over the past decade, Conjoint Professor Hullick said more needs to be done to “reduce the impact of sepsis on health services and improve patient outcomes”.