Communiqué 7: National Sepsis Program Oversight Group – February 2025

National Sepsis Program Oversight Group 

The Oversight Group is chaired by Conjoint Professor Carolyn Hullick, Chief Medical Officer at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission). 

The Commission provided an overview of feedback from consultation undertaken by ARTD consultants about sepsis coordination and post sepsis support. Members heard that sepsis survivors and people bereaved by sepsis want health care practitioners to: 

• see the whole person 
• listen to and empower patients, families and carers • focus on and encourage recovery 
• be factual and realistic when providing information 
• be patient and understanding. 

Members also heard that keeping patients, families and carers informed and providing support for people to process what has happened and what to expect including coming to terms with the circumstances of a loved one’s death, are also critical elements of a model of care. 

Members were moved by the feedback from sepsis survivors and their families and recommended that the Commission elevate the voices of people with lived experience in the program’s final report. Members heard that user testing of the new online education bundle for primary care has gone well, and that planning is underway to launch the new education bundle and supporting resources. 

Members continued the discussion from the previous meeting about sepsis teaching in undergraduate curricula. They provided feedback about a draft survey for universities, recommending the Commission add additional questions about curricula to understand how universities approach the development of critical thinking and human factors which are essential for sepsis recognition in busy clinical settings. 

Members received a presentation from Indigenous Professional Services Management Consultants on a draft literature review about the experiences of sepsis in First Nation’s peoples. Members noted the need for more research in this area including listening to First Nations peoples about how health services respond to them when sepsis is suspected. 

Discussion about data needs, gaps and challenges led to a debate about how health services use critical incident data for teaching and learning purposes. Members agreed that health services could do more to learn from critical incidents in partnership with patients, families and clinicians involved in those incidents, perhaps by creating case studies based on real events. Lived experience members noted that their primary motivation after sepsis is to prevent similar events happening to others. 

Next steps 

The Oversight Group will continue to monitor the progress of projects and provide feedback to the Commission and contracted suppliers to strengthen implementation and outcomes. Enquiries If you would like to be added to the distribution list for this communiqué, please email sepsis@safetyandquality.gov.au.