Aubrey McCarthy (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the petitions committee, of which I am a member, was addressed by Sinead O'Reilly. She spoke about her sister-in-law Sarah O'Reilly, the 34-year-old mum of twins, P.J. and Lilly. Sarah developed a fever. At first they thought it was pneumonia, and then gallstones. She was brought to hospital. After a number of weeks in ICU, she passed away. The issue was sepsis. To hear that harrowing story was horrendous. An external review found that if the sepsis protocol had been activated and followed, a different response could have come about and Sarah could be alive today.

The committee also heard from Professor Steve Kerrigan, who outlined the number of people who have died from sepsis in Europe. The figures are phenomenal. We are talking about millions. The uncomfortable truth is that sepsis is a very real danger. It certainly affects older populations, but Sarah was only 34. We now have fewer effective drugs to treat the condition. Professor Kerrigan stated that we need to take three steps. First, Ireland needs to commit to developing a national timebound sepsis strategy that aligns with international best practice and then scale that to cover the health system here. Second, as we have the EU Presidency in the second half of this year, sepsis should be formally considered as one of our priorities, particularly in the context of antimicrobial resistance, hospital safety and ageing populations. Third, both Houses of the Oireachtas should support further engagement by referring this issue to the relevant Ministers, Department and Oireachtas committees. It is essential that sepsis awareness is at the forefront of what we do here.