Sepsis Modern Service Framework

A new framework for better sepsis care

Sepsis is a serious reaction to an infection that can be fatal if not treated promptly. Sepsis was the cause of 133,484 hospital admissions in England in 2024/25.

NHS England’s recently published Modern Service Framework (MSF) for sepsis sets out how the NHS and partner organisations, including NICE, will improve sepsis care. The sepsis MSF is one of 6 MSFs designed to deliver consistent, high-quality care throughout the NHS.

A core government priority introduced in the 10 Year Health Plan for England, MSFs are practical plans that describe what good care should look like. They identify where improvements are needed and how services can work together to improve patient outcomes.

NICE’s evidence-based guidance supports this work, providing the evidence, and supporting services to deliver care that is effective, joined up and focused on improving outcomes.

Why address sepsis?

Sepsis is a significant cause of death and ill health and presents challenges across prevention, diagnosis, treatment and recovery, putting significant pressure on health and care services.

The average person admitted with sepsis stayed in hospital for 14 days and in 2024/25, sepsis care cost the NHS £1.037 billion.

When people die from an infection, it is most commonly due to sepsis. It develops very quickly and needs urgent treatment in hospital.

Alongside its immediate risks, sepsis can also have long-term physical and emotional effects for patients and carers.

The exact cause of sepsis is not known. It is thought that the immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage the body's organs. The risk of getting sepsis may also be affected by the type of infection, age, genetics and any underlying health conditions.

Why is an MSF needed on sepsis now?

In 2024/25, 133,484 hospital admissions recorded were attributed to sepsis, and just over 7% of people with a ‘suspicion of sepsis’ will die during their acute hospital stay. The MSF sets out to address this, with an ambition to reduce death, life-threatening complications and long-term impacts from sepsis and severe infection, in all patient groups, by at least 25% by 2035.

Sepsis can affect anyone, of any age, who has an infection. Diagnosing sepsis can be difficult. It often overlaps with other conditions and severe infections, and no single diagnostic test exists to confirm it. This is particularly challenging when diagnosing sepsis in infants and children.

Compounding this, sepsis care and outcomes vary across the NHS, and inconsistent data makes this variation difficult to understand and address. Clinicians must also navigate the balance between 2 risks. Treating too slowly can be dangerous, but treating too quickly with antibiotics that are not needed contributes to antimicrobial resistance.

Significant health inequalities are prevalent in sepsis care, meaning that some groups are more likely to have poorer outcomes than others. Those at higher risk are:

- babies

- older people