Tom Pawley, Sales Director at Allegis Group’s TEK Systems, arranged a fundraising golf day as a way of thanking Kingston Hospital staff who moved fast when his wife, Bex, was suspected of having sepsis. Bex was being treated for a respiratory issue and staff who were looking after her were quick to spot the signs of sepsis and to provide her with the necessary treatment before she was transferred to St Thomas’ Hospital.

Sepsis happens when a person’s immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage the body’s own tissues and organs. It is the number one death of preventable disease in the world and can be hard to diagnose due to the similarity of its symptoms with other illnesses. Without rapid diagnosis and treatment, it can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death, which is why Tom and Bex will be forever grateful to those staff who responded so quickly when sepsis was suspected.

The golf day took place at the Centurion Golf Club, near St Albans on Thursday 5 September and raised £3,805 which was matched by the Allegis Group. The majority of the £7,610 raised will be used to support Kingston Hospital’s ‘Could it be sepsis?’ awareness campaign which launches this autumn and will run throughout 2025. Each year in the UK, approximately 250,000 people are admitted to hospital with sepsis and around 48,000 will die as a result of the condition. This latest awareness campaign will seek to remind hospital staff to think sepsis, to ensure better sepsis patient outcomes and to mitigate the risk of deterioration.

The remaining funds have been directed to the hospital’s intensive care unit where Bex was treated before being transferred to St Thomas’ Hospital.