A HAMPSHIRE Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust doctor will play a key role in improving how sepsis is managed across the country after being appointed as the National Clinical Sepsis Advisor.

Dr Matt Inada-Kim, a consultant in Acute Medicine at Royal Hampshire County Hospital, in Winchester, is a highly-regarded expert on sepsis, a life-threatening condition that arises when the body breaks harms its own tissues and organs in response to infection.

In his role as sepsis advisor, Dr Inada-Kim will advise senior NHS leaders and work towards improving how the condition is treated across England. He will also spend time educating clinicians, undertake research and address both national and international conferences on the subject of sepsis.

Dr Inada-Kim said: “It’s a dream job for me and I’m very grateful to Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and my colleagues for supporting me to improve the identification and treatment of sepsis both locally and nationally.

“Sepsis is the largest cause of death in hospitals and patients with infections, which can lead to the condition, occupy 75 per cent of hospital beds. My aims are to ensure that every hospital in the country has the same, best evidenced, high quality system in place to deal with sepsis and that all hospitals collaborate with their community partners to ensure that potential cases are identified and treated as early as possible.

“We are also working to implement National Early Warning Scores across the health system. These will help to ensure that when patients become unwell in any environment, there is an immediate understanding of their level of sickness so they can be treated accordingly. This work has begun in Hampshire and we have seen some improvements already.”