A new report has shed light on the significant burden of sepsis on Australia’s public healthcare system – with the condition remaining a significant cause of deaths and healthcare costs.
More than 84,000 people were hospitalised with sepsis in 2022-23.
The report by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) released ahead of World Sepsis Day on September 13, revealed that while rates of the life-threatening condition had declined slightly, it remained a major cause of hospitalisations, deaths, and escalating costs.
It found that although the average length of a hospital stay and in-hospital mortality rates remained relatively stable over the last decade, the average cost of a sepsis admission had increased by 50%, from $20,934 to $31,440.
While the more than 84,000 hospitalisations in 2022-23 was significantly greater than previous estimates of 55,000 cases per year, the report also showed rates of sepsis in Australia had reduced in recent years from a peak in 2013-14.
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The report analysed more than 900,000 sepsis-related hospital admissions in public hospitals between 2013-14 and 2022-23.
It showed that sepsis rates peaked at 38 per 10,000 population in 2013-14 before dropping to 27 per 10,000 in 2022-23.
Of those patients admitted to hospital with sepsis, more than a third also had diabetes, while other major comorbidities included renal disease and cancer.
The report also highlighted how often sepsis occurs in post-hospital discharge, with more than half of all post-sepsis readmissions happening within the first 30 days of discharge and more than one in five of them readmitted for sepsis again.
Older people and aged care residents are more likely to be hospitalised for sepsis, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Latest data from 2022-23 showed Indigenous Australians were hospitalised at a rate of approximately six per 1000 people, double the rate of the non-Indigenous population.
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Chief Medical Officer Conjoint Associate Professor Carolyn Hullick said more must be done to address sepsis rates in Australia.
“Early recognition, timely treatment, and well-coordinated follow-up care are vital to saving lives and reducing long-term impacts,” she said.
She said the data also indicated that efforts to improve recognition and response in emergency settings may be having a positive effect.
“The proportion of sepsis-related deaths occurring in emergency departments has declined, suggesting that sepsis pathways and awareness initiatives are starting to have an impact,” she added.
The development of a National Sepsis Data Plan is underway to address inconsistencies in documentation and coding, which have historically made it challenging to get a clear picture of the condition’s prevalence and impact.
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