Lazomis QI · Audit Tool
Sepsis Six Audit
Audit timely recognition, escalation and delivery of key Sepsis Six actions for adults with suspected sepsis.
Clinical safety: This tool supports local audit, quality improvement and governance review of Sepsis Six care. It does not replace clinical judgement, local sepsis policy, antimicrobial guidance, oxygen or intravenous fluid policy, escalation pathways, critical care outreach or specialist advice. Urgent presentations must be managed under local clinical escalation pathways. Do not enter patient names, NHS numbers, hospital numbers, full dates of birth, addresses or other direct identifiers.
Clinical purpose
This audit reviews whether adults with suspected sepsis are recognised, escalated and managed promptly using key Sepsis Six actions and local sepsis pathways. It helps teams identify delays in screening, senior review, lactate measurement, blood cultures, antibiotic administration, oxygen therapy, intravenous fluids and urine output monitoring. The tool supports safer care for deteriorating patients and helps clinical teams convert audit findings into practical improvement actions.
Audit aim
To assess whether adults with suspected sepsis receive timely assessment, escalation and Sepsis Six care in line with local policy, NICE guidance and professional standards, and to identify improvement actions that reduce avoidable delays.
Target users and services
Emergency departments, acute medical units, same-day emergency care, urgent treatment centres, surgical assessment units, inpatient medical and surgical wards, frailty units and critical care outreach teams. Doctors, nurses, ACPs, PAs, pharmacists, antimicrobial stewardship teams, QI leads and clinical governance teams.
Inclusion criteria
- Adults aged 16 years or older
- Suspected infection and possible or suspected sepsis
- Screened, assessed or treated under the local sepsis pathway during the audit period
- Attending or admitted through selected departments, wards, units or pathways
- Electronic, paper or hybrid records depending on local setup
Exclusion criteria and limitations
- Patients under 16 unless locally adapted
- Pregnant / recently pregnant patients unless locally adapted to maternity guidance
- Patients without suspected infection
- Cases where sepsis was clearly not suspected and no local pathway was triggered
- Duplicate records or records outside the audit period
- Records unavailable for review or lacking local governance approval
- Direct patient identifiers must not be entered
Tool library categories
Primary: Deteriorating Patient · Sepsis · Patient Safety
Secondary: Antimicrobial Stewardship · Escalation · Emergency Care
How to use
- Configure your project in Project setup.
- Add your project team in Team.
- Collect episodes in Data collection.
- Review compliance in Dashboard and interpret in Findings.
- Agree actions in Improvement and plan a repeat cycle in Re-audit.
- Generate governance outputs from the Export Centre.