Deputy Bernard J. Durkan:

I welcome the witnesses this morning for what is a watershed meeting. They have brought to the attention of the committee something that is highly important and has troubled many of us for a long time. Like the Chairman, I had experience in hospital not related to sepsis but related to other matters in recent times. I was appalled at some of the things I saw. The speed of identification of sepsis is the crucial and critical factor. A patient could be sitting in a waiting area for half a day and things could be getting progressively worse and we need to get ahead of that. My first interaction with the condition was in respect of pregnancies during the debate about repealing the eighth amendment to the Constitution. There can be fluctuation of blood pressure in the latter stages of a pregnancy and it can become very serious. The action taken by the medics is of huge importance at that stage.

The witnesses have confirmed everything that I have said before and, incidentally, have been contradicted before. I am sure they have been contradicted also well. During the debate to repeal the eighth amendment to the Constitution, I asked a medic how prevalent sepsis was. He said it was very rare in Ireland nowadays. I remember the exchange. I asked how many cases had happened in the previous 12 months and he stated it was three or four. I suggested that they must all have come to me at that stage and I doubted that. There was this pre-established notion that it was not a serious issue here for some reason and that it was not important; it is important. The diagnosis is very important. In half an hour, it can become a life and death issue and go past the point of no return. That is the thing we need to remember about it.

Accident and emergency departments in hospitals need to be alert to it. For example, a person going to an accident and emergency department may face a waiting period of two or three hours. That is not on; that does not work. That is the crucial time. If it is not arrested in the first three or four hours, it is too late. It is tragic for the families of people who have been affected. It would have been so easy to resolve the problem if the right intervention had been taken at the right time. We need to highlight this for professionals in accident and emergency departments and GPs as well.

In the cases dealt with, the GPs did their job and made a referral straight away. What should happen then is early testing, as that should show it up instantly. I do not know why that does not happen. In some cases, people can be waiting to be triaged in our accident and emergency departments for four or five hours. However, the full triage needs to be done as simply testing blood pressure and so on is not sufficient; it has to be blood tests and so on. The full range of events that need to take place must take place quickly to identify, isolate and come to a conclusion. It is very simple to treat, provided it is identified in time.

I again thank the witnesses for being here. They have confirmed all the things I have personally had to deal with in the past on behalf of constituents. In many cases, suddenly a person just dies and family and friends say nobody knew what the condition was. It is only through those who are persistent and follow it up that it suddenly gets recognition. The witnesses are to be congratulated on what they have done. I offer commiserations on the tragic circumstances in which they have had to do it. That should not happen at all. As far as I and the committee are concerned, the lesson to be learned is for quick action. The issue needs to be identified quickly and dealt with after which it is simple. It is like a circle. At a certain point when it reaches the zenith of that circle, it is too late - it is gone and all over.