Dr Kate Honeyford, lead author of the research, said: “Sepsis can be deadly if it’s not diagnosed and treated quickly.
“However, symptoms can be hard to spot and are similar to other conditions such as flu or a chest infection, which can result in delayed diagnosis and treatments.
“Our study shows for the first time that robust analysis of a digital alert system was associated with improvements in outcomes for patients and the system presents an opportunity to improve care for patients who may have sepsis.”
This comes after the Royal College of Nursing earlier this year urged health chiefs to introduce early warning systems for sepsis amid feats that cases are being missed by the NHS.
The alert system monitors several of the key indicators of sepsis in patients, such as low blood pressure, high glucose levels and high white blood cell counts, alerting the doctor once three of these criteria are met.
Early recognition and intervention of sepsis is crucial, using antibiotics in order to prevent the rapid deterioration which it causes.
The study also showed that patients with the alert system had a 35 per cent increased chance of receiving timely antibiotics compared to a group of patients who did not have the technology in place.
