Sepsis, also known as blood poisoning, can be life-threatening and is caused by your immune system’s extreme reaction to an infection or injury, triggering an attack against your own organs and tissues. It is essential that sepsis is identified and treated as early as possible to avoid organ failure and even death, but not all cases of sepsis arise out of negligence.

The UK Sepsis Trust states that a quarter of all sepsis survivors suffer permanent, life-changing after effects, and that sadly five people are killed by sepsis every hour in the UK.

Sepsis is mainly associated with infections in the abdomen, lungs, urinary tract and pelvis, it can also be caused by:

• A surgical infection
• Appendicitis
• Cellulitis
• Encephalitis
• Flu
• Gallbladder infection
• Meningitis
• Pneumonia