My patient of two decades phoned me one Friday afternoon, saying she felt very ill. She travelled for an hour to my clinic. She has immunosuppression, multimorbidity including steroid-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus, and morbid obesity. Careful physical examination was entirely normal, including pulse, blood pressure, SpO2, temperature, and mental state. Prior to NEWS2 I didn’t routinely measure all six physiological parameters.1 Her respiratory rate was 28, NEWS2 score of 3. Doubting myself, I checked and rechecked her respiratory rate. This was the sole basis of my referring her to ED. Later that day, the CT thorax, abdomen, and pelvis revealed a large intra-abdominal abscess. She made a full recovery.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2020
