Sepsis survivors from Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket, Thetford and Brandon on their ordeal as recorded cases at West Suffolk Hospital trust rise
The number of cases of sepsis, a life-threatening condition, at a hospital trust has gradually increased in the last five years with nearly 2,400 recorded in 2023.
The figures, revealed by SuffolkNews following a Freedom of Information request, show the number of patients who died while an inpatient at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and had a sepsis diagnosis has risen slightly with 377 last year, compared to 302 in 2019.
The trust, which runs West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, said the increase in cases – 1,947 in 2019 and 2,396 in 2023 – was likely due to better identification of the condition.
Sepsis is life-threatening and arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its tissues and organs, according to UK Sepsis Trust. It occurs when the immune system – which helps to protect from and fight infection – goes into overdrive.
Sepsis can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and sometimes death, especially if not recognised early and treated promptly, the trust said.
Cases were highest among those aged 51 or above, with 2,128 last year, followed by 141 among 31 to 50 year olds and 68 registered for those aged 0-10.
Why are sepsis cases on the rise?
Hospital bosses have said staff are more aware of and able to recognise the signs of sepsis following an increase in recorded cases.
The number of sepsis cases at the trust which runs West Suffolk Hospital, was 1,947 in 2019, 1,708 in 2020, 1,881 in 2021, 2,279 in 2022, 2,396 in 2023 and 198 so far this year.
The data, secured after a Freedom of Information request, showed the number of patients who died while an inpatient at West Suffolk and had a sepsis diagnosis was 302 in 2019, 300 in 2020, 308 in 2021, 371 in 2022, 377 in 2023 and 40 this year.
The trust was unable to provide data on the number of patient deaths due to sepsis as it does not record such information.
Sepsis can be identified in many patients who may have multiple conditions, but it might not be recorded as the reason for death, it said.
Dr Paul Molyneux, medical director for West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said the increase in cases was almost certainly due to better identification of the condition, which remains a leading cause of death in the UK and is most common in the elderly and very young.
“We know that early identification and treatment of sepsis saves lives, and we take seriously our duty to educate and raise awareness among staff about the urgent need for early recognition and management of it,” he said.
As well as a focus on training staff, West Suffolk introduced an automatic sepsis screening tool in December 2021, based on the UK Sepsis Trust’s Red Flag screening tool.
Dr Molyneux said this supported colleagues to use patients’ vital signs scores to identify suspected sepsis.
It is used alongside the national ‘Sepsis Six’ care bundle (a set of six tasks including oxygen, blood cultures, IV antibiotics and IV fluids), which helps staff to rapidly identify, diagnose and treat sepsis at an early stage.
“Together, these are helping our staff be more aware and able to recognise, test and diagnose the condition quickly so we can initiate life-saving treatment as soon as possible,” he said.
According to the UK Sepsis Trust, symptoms in adults include slurred speech or confusion, extreme shivering or muscle pain, passing no urine (in a day), severe breathlessness and mottled or discoloured skin.
As part of our investigation to help raise awareness of sepsis and its impact, SuffolkNews spoke to several survivors. Here are their stories:
‘All I wanted to do was hug my boys’
“They say if you have sepsis you honestly feel like death would be a happy release and I can’t agree more with that statement.”
Page Petrie, 27, survived sepsis two and a half years ago and vividly remembers the agony and fatigue which spread through her body.
The mum-of-two, who was treated at West Suffolk Hospital, said: “I had a one and a half-year-old son and a one-month-old son and the pain and pure no-energy meant I could barely even say hello to them.
“All I wanted to do was to hug my boys but I couldn’t even lift my arms.”
Following gall bladder surgery on August 22, 2021, and a second bout of surgery due to jaundice, Page was discharged but returned to hospital as she felt unwell, describing it as ‘like the worst flu ever’.
Her infection markers were just under the cut off for being of concern to doctors and she was discharged again.
But the following morning, Page, of Newmarket, woke up and felt ‘horrific’.
“I kept falling in and out of sleep,” she said. “I couldn’t hold a conversation. My arms and legs hurt. I was cold and hot at the same time.
“By 8pm I was delusional, couldn’t focus my sight and I also hadn’t peed all day.”
Her husband called an ambulance and she was taken to West Suffolk, where tests revealed she had sepsis.
“I pretty much passed out from there and the next I remember is waking up (the next day) where doctors told me I was in organ failure, severely dehydrated and if my next lot of blood works didn’t improve I would have to go to ICU,” said Page.
“They informed me that if I’d had just gone back to sleep the night before instead of calling the ambulance I would have died in my sleep.”
Following IV antibiotics, fluids and various tablets, she was able to return home, and with a concoction of medication, gradually made a full recovery.
Her message to others is simple.
“If anyone thinks they have sepsis, they should seek medical advice straight away,” she said. “Never sleep it off, never think ‘oh that would never happen to me’. Sepsis can happen to anyone and it is serious.”
Died on the operating table
Tony Brown was on a cruise with his wife Jenny in October 2022 in Norway when he fell ill.
The 61-year-old, of Thetford, doesn’t remember much of his ordeal but Jenny, 57, has recounted what he endured.
He was diagnosed with an ‘unknown high fever’ by the ship’s doctor, who suspected an issue with his prostate gland but tests were unable to identify the cause.
Arriving home, Tony went to West Suffolk Hospital, where he was admitted with sepsis.
Scans and x-rays revealed a kidney stone in the urethra. It had led to a urinary tract infection which caused sepsis.
He was told the kidney stone would hopefully move or break up and he was discharged after six days.
But after fours days, Tony was back in hospital where he was given strong antibiotics and sent home.
On Christmas Eve he was feeling unwell, was being sick and had pain in the kidney region.
He believed the stone was moving as the doctor had predicted but on Christmas Day his condition deteriorated.
Falling into a state of delirium, he was taken to hospital and Jenny stayed with him until Boxing Day morning.
“I was alerted at lunchtime that he was taken to theatre for an emergency operation, she said.
“Once out and on the ward I was told he actually died on the operating table. Luckily the surgeon got him back.
“This was due to how bad the sepsis was. Everything had backed up to his lungs. His heart rate was extremely high – 156 beats per minute – again this was part and parcel of sepsis.”
Having suffered damage to his lungs and heart, Tony was in hospital for just over two weeks.
In March, the stone was removed and he has made a full recovery, albeit with a bit of lung damage still.
The couple’s advice to others is to call for an ambulance if they have sepsis symptoms.
“Please do not leave it too long to get treatment,” said Jenny.
‘Sepsis from chemo is brutal’
Within five days of her first chemotherapy session for breast cancer, Sacha Dixon started to suffer from symptoms of neutropenic sepsis, which she was diagnosed with in July.
The condition is when a person has low neutrophils, which help fight infection.
This may be because they are on chemotherapy or they have a chronic immunosuppression illness.
Having never had chemo before, Sacha, 40, of Brandon, wasn’t sure if how she felt was normal so battled on for 11 days rather than bothering anyone.
“I was raised to just grit your teeth and keep fighting so I did,” she said.
What began with constant headaches and feeling generally unwell led to terrible brain fog and an enhanced sense of smell so if something smelt funny it made her feel sick.
“Living on painkillers until I just couldn’t bear it anymore, I had to admit defeat and call the hospital,” said Sacha.
“Once in hospital I got the sweats and my bed and clothes were saturated because of the fever.”
She fought through the fever with antibiotics and had to have injections to boost her white blood cells.
After five days in hospital, Sacha was allowed home.
Sepsis from chemo is brutal, she said, and urged anyone feeling unwell to ring the number on their chemotherapy card.
“Don’t mess around and think you don’t want to bother anyone like I did,” she said. ”I could have died.
“It can and will kill you if you let infection take over. Don’t try and be a hero like I did.”
‘I have had sepsis five times since November’
After developing sepsis, Isabel Howell, 18, of Bury St Edmunds, has been dealing with the long lasting effects.
Isabel said it is likely she has EDS (Ehlers-Danlos syndromes), a group of rare inherited conditions that affect connective tissue, which has led to intestinal failure.
While in hospital she developed sepsis from a blood infection and has had the condition five times since November.
She has been in hospital at least 10 days each time.
“After two days of antibiotics I start to feel a lot better but it takes a lot longer to recover my strength and sometimes the treatment has caused me to become sick as well,” said Isabel.
“However, I have had long lasting effects. I wonder if it has lowered my immune system, possibly causing me to contract several more infections and developing sepsis each of those times, but this has not been investigated.”
She encouraged others to speak up if they feel something is wrong and to take an advocate with them to hospital.
“How you feel can change dramatically very quickly, don’t be scared to ask if you have sepsis,” she said.
“The first two times I had sepsis there were no indicators in my blood results till much later on.”
‘I was scared I was going to die’
In 2017, Lauren Davies had been feeling unwell but didn’t think much of it.
Aged 13/14 at the time, she said: “I had been to the doctors that day for a mole on my leg that looked infected and the doctor gave me cream to apply to the mole and I was good to go.
“I remember having to go see my brother’s new home and on the way I was sick in the car and became very tired again.”
Lauren, of Bury St Edmunds then and who lives in Necton, Norfolk, now, remembers her condition worsened and, after seeing her doctor, was sent to A&E.
Her body was shutting down and, as a result, the medics were having difficulty fitting a cannula.
“During all of this I'm feeling extremely cold and 'out of it',” she said.
“Everything seemed to go very slow and I was scared I was going to die.
“I can't remember a lot after that as I passed out.
“I remember waking up on the Rainbow Ward at West Suffolk Hospital and being told I had a serious blood infection called sepsis.
“I was confused because they didn't know what caused it and they weren't 100 per cent sure if it was the mole or if it was something else.
“I'd never heard of sepsis before so it was overwhelming and I was told that if I had not gone to A&E that day I would have been dead in the morning.
“Sepsis is real and is extremely dangerous and so hard to spot.”
‘Never give up hope’
Tim Wolstenholme, 42, of Bury, had sepsis in 2019.
While at Bury Town Football Club during a Howard’s FC cup final, he suffered a double seizure and was taken to West Suffolk Hospital.
He was given the all clear but his condition worsened to the point where he was bed ridden at home.
After a few days, Tim forced himself to have a shower but passed out in the process and his face made contact with the old cast iron bath.
He was taken to A&E and admitted to a ward but passed out every time he stood up.
At one point Tim was in ICU with type two respiratory failure followed by an emergency transfer to Addenbrooke’s with suspected organ failure.
“It’s safe to say when I was discharged I was half the man I was before, but my friends, family and work colleagues kept me going, plus the amazing over-stretched staff of our NHS,” he said.
Tim’s survival is a story of hope and it is one he has shared to help others.
He remembers sitting on a bench in the Abbey Gardens and talking to a person next to him whose loved one was very ill and in ICU.
Tim told them his story and to never give up hope.
Another person, sitting on the other side, asked to join the conversation as his wife had died a few hours before and the Abbey Gardens was her favourite place.
“A couple on the next bench then spoke and said how moved they were and asked if we could all pray,” said Tim.
“I am not religious but we all linked arms, closed our eyes and prayed before going our separate ways.
“It was a bizarre and surreal experience, I do believe things happen for a reason and that day we all needed each other.
“Always be kind because you don't know what they are going through, but through suffering we find strength.”
For more information on sepsis, visit https://sepsistrust.org/
