Can acute medicine units in the UK comply with the Surviving Sepsis Campaign's six-hour care bundle?

Abstract

The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) advocates a six-hour resuscitation care bundle to be used in the initial management of the acutely ill patient. This survey was designed to investigate the number of acute medicine units (AMUs) in the UK capable of, and successful in, implementing this bundle. Questionnaires were sent to each of the 265 AMUs across the UK. The questionnaire asked 10 questions about delivery of the six-hour resuscitation bundle. Twenty AMUs (12%) had the minimum facilities to comply. Regional variation was noted. This survey shows that few AMUs in the UK appear to be able to resuscitate a patient with sepsis using the SSC resuscitation care bundle.