Aotearoa Patient Safety Day is a commitment to consumers and healthcare workers that our health services strive to provide the best and safest care possible, every time. This year we will be celebrating the day on Monday, 17 November.
The 2025 theme is 'Paediatric sepsis' with the tagline 'Sepsis moves fast. Be Faster'.
We are guided by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) theme which is ‘Safe care for every newborn and every child’ under the slogan ‘Patient safety from the start’.
A working group has considered the WHO's topic and chosen the theme of paediatric sepsis. This was informed by evidence that paediatric mortality in Aotearoa New Zealand, especially for marginalised communities, can be reduced through improvement opportunities, including:
Delayed diagnosis was also the highest reporting category for paediatrics in the Harm (adverse) events database reported to the Health Quality and Safety Commission Te Tāhū Hauora (the Commission).
Sepsis moves fast. Be faster.
The tagline ‘Sepsis moves fast. Be faster’ was chosen to highlight how important it is to move quickly in testing for, diagnosing and treating sepsis. Early intervention can quite literally save lives.
This year we will raise awareness of sepsis in tamariki through a video with a health worker who supports families after a child has had sepsis.
The theme and resources are suitable across primary and secondary healthcare providers and we encourage all to take this opportunity to promote paediatric sepsis.
To show our support, we have created some new digital resources for you to share online and in the workplace. Click the links or images below to download.
These resources are designed to support the early recognition and treatment of sepsis in hospital emergency departments, wards, high dependency units and intensive care units.
The national paediatric early warning system (PEWS) helps clinicians identify hospitalised tamariki with the potential to become more unwell, so they can respond quickly. We have recently updated tools for 5-11 and 12+ year olds, and published 'PEWS reminders'.
This education plan and the accompanying resources are designed to help staff improve their knowledge, skills, and confidence to recognise and respond to sepsis early. It supports implementation of the Raise the Flag national sepsis quality improvement package.
Find out more about this escalation process for patient, family and whānau concerns about deterioration while in hospital.
Earlier this year the Commission co-ordinated a review of the tools and resources available to help clinicians recognise and manage sepsis. Work is underway to integrate this approach into HealthPathways, the main resource used at the point of care to help clinicians make treatment decisions.
Look for two new Community HealthPathways Sepsis in Children, and Sepsis in Adults and Young People, and updated versions of the Sepsis in Children and Sepsis in Adults Hospital HealthPathways.
The Sepsis Trust works to improve patient outcomes and support families. They host a range of valuable resources for healthcare workers and whānau to learn more about sepsis. They have a small number of resource packs available this Aotearoa Patient Safety Day, follow the links below to find out more.
