A TEXT message alerting doctors to cases of sepsis is proving to save lives.

The warning system being piloted by NHS bosses comes as figures show patients dying from the 'silent killer' has increased by a third in two years

Sepsis occurs when the body over-reacts to an everyday infection or virus and can be triggered by a skin infection or even flu.

Data released on Friday showed there were 15,722 deaths recorded in England's hospitals at the end of April 2017 where sepsis was the leading cause.

Campaigners said staff shortages and overcrowding on wards were to blame with NHS England arguing it was down to improved diagnosis.

But a new alert system, pioneered by doctors at Cambridge University Hospitals and part of a two-year pilot, has led to a seven-fold increase in the number of patients getting life-saving drugs.

The alert system works by constantly analysing patients' observations, as recorded by staff on handheld devices.

This includes temperature, pulse, blood pressure and level of consciousness taken at various stages as patients are assessed in A&E.

If the observations suggest a patient might have sepsis, a text message appears on the hand-held device and doctors can treat the patient.

The alert system was introduced at Addenbrookes Hospital in 2016. In July 2015, only 11 per cent of patients with possible sepsis were given antibiotics within an hour of arriving at A&E. This increased to 76 per cent by August 2016.

Melissa Mead, whose one-year-old son William died from the condition in Treliske Hospital in Truro, Cornwall, praised the alert system.

She told the Daily Mail: "If you've got a seven-fold increase in patients receiving antibiotics within an hour, that speaks volumes.

"It's a wonderful thing. The blueprint has been written by clinicians and people on the front-line and they know what works."

There are 250,000 cases of sepsis in the UK each year and it claims 44,000 lives.