A presentation, delivered by Lee Chester from the NELFT Medical Education team, recently won first prize with NACT UK (National Association of Clinical Tutors) for the team’s work on sepsis training. Lee has worked in different roles for NELFT and is currently on secondment as Education and Training Fellow within the Medical Education team.

The National Association of Clinical Tutors, (NACT UK), was founded in 1969 to support those responsible for overseeing the delivery of postgraduate medical education. NACT hold an annual two day multi-speciality conference which focuses on postgraduate medical education.  At this conference the team submitted an abstract on the work being undertaking in the Medical Education team on sepsis teaching. The abstract was accepted and the team was invited to submit a poster presentation highlighting the work. Lee had to present this to a small panel and answer questions on their work. Lee was awarded joint first place at the prestigious conference.

Every year in the UK, there are 150,000 cases of sepsis, resulting in a staggering 44,000 deaths – more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined. Sepsis is a life threatening condition that arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. It can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death - especially if not recognized early and treated promptly.

Sepsis can be caused by a huge variety of different bugs, most cases being caused by common bacteria which we all come into contact with every day without them making us ill. Sometimes, though, the body responds abnormally to these infections, and causes sepsis.  Early recognition and intervention is crucial to improve out patient outcomes, this may include admission to critical care.

Lee Chester said: “I was very pleased that we won the award as it highlights the good work that has been undertaken in the team. I would encourage other colleagues within NELFT to come forward and present their work at conferences to show the good work that is being undertaken within NELFT to improve patient care.”

Although Lee performed the presentation, he would like to thank those who worked together to put the programme in place, including Dr Tracy Barry, Dr Amy Gribble, Dr Matthew Fernando, Geraldine Rodgers and Dr Mohan Bhat.

For more information about the Medical Education team, visit their web page at: www.nelft.nhs.uk/medical-and-dental-education

To read more about NACT UK, visit their website: www.nact.org.uk/about-nact-uk