Melissa Mead, whose 12-month-old son, William died of sepsis after medics failed to spot it, finally met Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Now, the bereaved mother is hoping that he took the matter seriously and he would implement a package of measure to save thousands of lives.
Talking about the meeting, Melissa said she discussed with the Health Secretary and to the U.K. Sepsis Trust officials some issues to raise awareness about the condition that took her son's life. Likewise, the need for better training for the medics has been reiterated. Moreover, she shared patient records with Mr. Hunt just so he will realize that this matter requires an urgent action.
"He definitely seems to be interested in a public health campaign but it is about tying him down and making sure he follows it through and that is absolutely what I am going to be doing," Mrs. Mead disclosed to Belfast Telegraph.
Mrs. Mead said she is happy that Mr. Hunt came to meet her and she is hoping that he will "commit sooner rather than later" to improve the sepsis care, so to avoid any further incidents like what happened to her. "We cannot be in a position where there is another mother stood here in a month's time, another apology because of failure in care," she added. "There has to be a commitment to change."
The U.K. Sepsis Trust's chief executive, Dr. Ron Daniels said, during the meeting, Mr. Hunt "has committed an agreement in principle to a public awareness campaign." However, the resourcing or who is going to provide it is yet to be discussed. Nevertheless, Mrs. Mead and the Health Secretary is scheduled to meet again in two months.
But as Mrs. Mead and the health officials wait for the commitment to be made, Dr. Daniels said that around 120 adults and 3 to 4 more babies are dying from sepsis. Hence, they are hoping for the measures to be implemented as early as possible.
