A special screening of the feature film ‘Starfish, which tells the moving story of a sepsis survivor and his family, is being held in Bath to help increase public awareness of the life-threatening condition.
‘Starfish’ is the real-life account of Tom Ray, who lost all four limbs and parts of his face to sepsis in 1999.
The event, at Kingswood School on 20th January is being organized jointly by Kate Nash, Head of Drama at Kingswood School and Dr Lesley Jordan, Consultant Anaesthetist and Patient Safety Lead on sepsis at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Jordan will be present at the screening to answer any questions. She said: “We hope the Ray family’s experiences on film will give people from Bath the opportunity to learn about sepsis – how to identify it, and what to do if you recognise the symptoms.”
The RUH is a leader in sepsis education, pioneering a training scheme to teach more than 600 staff in 60 days about how to quickly identify and treat the potentially life-threatening condition.
The training project team were chosen as finalists in this year’s National Patient Safety Care Awards for their work.
Since July more than 800 RUH staff have been trained, following new national guidelines for the management of sepsis, and the RUH model has proved so successful that other NHS Trusts in the region have adopted its techniques to train three thousand more.
Kingswood Head of Drama, Kate Nash, said: “Our Drama department chooses two charities to support each year, raising over £5000 in the last three years. I came across a video on Facebook by a mum who had lost her four year old son to sepsis and it frightened me because I knew nothing about how common it was to die from the condition.
“It’s impossible to see something like that, have your eyes opened and then walk away and forget all about it.”
The evening, which is open to all, will commence at 7.30pm in the Kingswood School theatre, with a film start time of 8pm.
Tickets are £10 per head for adults, £7 for children under 18 and other concessions, to include a welcome drink.
All proceeds will be donated to the UK Sepsis Trust, and donations and a raffle will also be held on the evening. To purchase tickets, contact Hayley Smith, [email protected].
Sepsis, or blood poisoning, is the reaction to an infection in which the body attacks its own organs. If not identified and treated quickly, it can lead rapidly to organ failure and death, and leaves thousands of survivors with life-changing disabilities.
The condition affects adults and children alike. Hitting 150,000 people in the UK annually and resulting in 44,000 deaths, earlier recognition and treatment could save 14,000 lives every year, and save the NHS £314 million per annum.
