Statement on initial antimicrobial treatment of sepsis

Sepsis still kills far too many people each year, tens of thousands every year throughout the UK and we know that if caught early, some cases of sepsis are preventable or treatable.

Prior to the pandemic, the Council of the Academy of Medical Royal College, which comprises the president and heads of all the Medical Royal Colleges, Colleges and major Faculties, agreed to a proposal that the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) should lead a project, on behalf of the Academy, to establish the most appropriate clinical approach to the management of sepsis. They would then produce a joint guideline, setting out this agreed approach across all specialties.

FICM established a cross-colleges group, led by Professor Julian Bion, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University of Birmingham. The work was inevitably delayed by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the project is now complete, and the Academy Council endorsed and adopted the report at its meeting in April 2022.

This is a very significant piece of work that has already been very well received by a range of organisations; the list of those endorsing the guidance is set out at the end of the report. The report has also been welcomed by all four of the UK Health Departments.

We believe it will be hugely helpful to clinicians and NHS organisations across the UK, in enabling them to manage and treat sepsis in a more standardised evidence-based way.

The Academy wishes to place on record its huge appreciation to Professor Bion and all members of his working group for their dedication and focus in producing the guidance and to the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine for conceiving the concept and leading the project through to completion.

Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard DBE PhD FRCGP

Chair, Academy of Medical Royal Colleges