Staff from the Isle of Wight NHS Trust have been shortlisted as finalists in this year’s Good Morning Britain Health Star Awards.
Set up to reward people who have gone the extra mile to help someone’s health or save a life, the Health Star awards, now in their second year, take place at the Rosewood Hotel in London next Monday (24th April).
The Island’s NHS Trust has been shortlisted for its ‘Pre-pip’ programme, which delivers high dose antibiotics in the community to patients who are diagnosed with the killer condition sepsis. Sepsis is a rare but serious complication of an infection which, without quick treatment, can lead to multiple organ failure and death.
Health services on the Isle of Wight have been delivering the lifesaving treatment in the community – which previously had only been delivered in hospital – since 2013. When first introduced the Isle of Wight was the only ambulance service in the northern hemisphere to deliver such treatment in the community. Now, 5 years later, the programme saves lives every week.
Dr John Pike from the Emergency Department at St Mary’s Hospital said:
“We knew that treating suspected Sepsis much earlier would save patient’s lives and prevents admissions to intensive care – a third of patients admitted to intensive care have sepsis.
“Our integrated services here on the Island – all part of Isle of Wight NHS Trust – make it possible for us to develop and implement new initiatives quickly. Previously patients had to wait until they arrived at hospital to receive these special antibiotics intravenously.
“For every hour delay in diagnosis and treatment the risk of death from sepsis increases substantially.”
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To get the programme up and running, the Trust developed guidance for staff which enables the treatment to be delivered by Paramedics under Patient Group Directions (PGDs). All the Trust’s emergency vehicles are equipped with kits to deliver the treatment and all ambulance staff have training to recognise the symptoms of sepsis and how to treat it.
Isle of Wight Ambulance Service Clinical Support Officer Tholli Wood said:
“A call to the Trust’s integrated care hub on either 999 or 111 activates the service. The Integrated Care Hub dispatches a rapid response vehicle to enable the patient to be treated at home. This is followed up by an Emergency Ambulance to transfer the patient to hospital for further treatment and tests but the important early diagnosis and treatment is achieved reducing the longer term problems for the patient.”
Executive Medical Director and acting chief executive at Isle of Wight NHS Trust, Dr Mark Pugh, said:
“This service, first developed on the Island, underlines the benefits of our integrated organisation. In 2013 it took just 4 months to develop and for the first patient to benefit. This innovative development has saved lives and I am proud of the team behind it. It’s great that their efforts have been recognised as finalists in the 2017 Good Morning Britain Health Star Awards.”
Highlights from next week’s event, including some special performances, will air on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (25th April) from 06:00.
