Fellowship to further Stephens sepsis studies

Photo of Dr Stephen outside the RPH Emergency Department
24/06/2022
Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) specialist emergency doctor Stephen Macdonald has been awarded one of four State Government-funded Fellowships that will enable him to pursue important sepsis research.
 
The fellowship will support projects that Stephen already has underway including:
  • a long-term study that is analysing blood samples collected from Emergency Department (ED) patients suspected of sepsis. The study is designed to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of illness with a view to finding new diagnostic tests and treatment targets.
  •  the establishment of a sepsis clinical registry that will enable Stephen and his colleagues to monitor the effectiveness of new sepsis resources that are being rolled across East Metropolitan Health Service (EMHS) hospitals.
  • These resources have been designed to help healthcare staff detect potential sepsis cases early, enabling prompt treatment.
    By monitoring routine clinical data, collected for the registry, Stephen will be able to see whether these resources have been effective in supporting best-practice guidelines. The registry will also enable monitoring of patient outcomes.
  • an initiative involving the HIVE (Health in a Virtual Environment) program in which sepsis patients are monitored closely but remotely by specialist doctors and nurses based in the HIVE command centre. 
Ongoing work on these projects will enable Stephen to improve his prospects of securing a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grant in a future round of the program after he narrowly missed funding in its most recent round.
 
Stephen said embedding research, innovation and evaluation within routine clinical activities is the key to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of care.

 

Sepsis is a serious illness where the body’s response to an infection leads to tissue damage and organ failure. It accounts for more than 8000 deaths in Australia each year and survivors are often left with serious long-term health problems.
 
Signs of sepsis can include:
  • abnormal body temperature
  • extreme shivering and muscle pain
  • slurred speech or confusion
  • not passing much urine
  • severe breathlessness
  •  discoloured or mottled skin.
 
Anybody with these symptoms should seek immediate medical help.
 
Stephen is a research fellow at the Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine within the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and a Clinical Associate Professor in Emergency Medicine at the UWA Medical School.
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Last Updated: 24/06/2022