Sepsis

Pictured from left to right are Hannah Tormey, Cathriona Flanagan, Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Minister Niamh Smyth, Laura Hughes, Sophie Lanigan and Keith Lanigan. Remembered in the photo frames are Sean Hughes from Dublin, who died from sepsis at 15, and Cathriona’s mam, Angela, who died from sepsis at 60. Sean’s parents set up ‘Lil Red’s Legacy’ to raise awareness of sepsis after his death.

NESA to support launch of National Sepsis Strategy

Sepsis

Published: Tue 26 May 2026, 1:24 PM

Last updated: Tue 26 May 2026, 1:34 PM

By Róisín McManus

North East Sepsis Awareness (NESA) has confirmed it will support the official launch of a National Sepsis Strategy in the coming months. It follows a meeting with the Health Minister last week

Representatives from NESA were welcomed to Leinster House last Wednesday, May 20, by Minister Niamh Smyth, who facilitated a meeting with Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to discuss the urgent need for greater sepsis awareness and to hear directly about the work being progressed at government level.

The delegation included Cathriona Flanagan and Hannah Tormey of NESA, alongside sepsis survivor Sophie Lanigan and her parents Laura and Keith, whose personal experience of sepsis and its lasting aftermath gave a powerful voice to the urgent need for change.

The meeting marks a significant step in the campaign to secure formal recognition of post-sepsis syndrome within the Irish healthcare system and to establish structured follow-up care for the growing number of sepsis survivors across Ireland.

The lobby group are “encouraged” by the development of a national sepsis strategy and feel that Minister Carroll MacNeill’s recognition of their advocacy work reflects the urgency of the issue.

“We will continue to push for formal recognition of post-sepsis syndrome and structured follow-up care for survivors, many of whom face serious physical, cognitive and psychological challenges long after the initial crisis has passed,” NESA confirmed in a statement to the Celt.

Speaking about the meeting, Minister Smyth said sepsis survivors and their families deserve proper recognition and care long after they leave hospital.

“The stories I have heard from the North East Sepsis Awareness group are deeply moving, and I am committed to ensuring their voices are heard at the highest level,” she said.

Minister Smyth previously hosted NESA in the AV room in Leinster House last April, where they informed Oireachtas members through a presentation on the dangers of SEPSIS, exploring how this life-threatening, yet preventable condition can be better recognised and managed across Ireland.

Following their meeting with the Minister for Health, NESA was awarded Community Group of the Year and Overall Community Champion at The Anglo-Celt Cavan Community & Sports Awards.