"lack of understanding of sepsis"

My mother who is in her seventies had an acute onset of confusion. At first my father thought she was having a stroke and phoned 999. The operator went through all the stroke questions and my mother was unable to move or communicate while he was on the phone.  

She was lifted by ambulance at this time I was at the house and she was starting to come around and speak. She was totally confused, she didn’t know any of us. This was not like my mother as she has never been confused in her life. We waited 2-3hrs for an ambulance for a suspected stroke and there was no way we would be able to get her to the hospital because she couldn’t walk at this time. When the ambulance men took her temperature it was 38.3. She was given paracetamol.

We got to the hospital and she was transferred to a trolley. We waited 4hrs and still no review from a doctor. I was worrying about sepsis and the time frame that she would need to get treatment. I found a senior member of staff. I expressly my concerns that my mother might have sepsis and they said “how?” I told them about the new unset of confusion. They went on to tell me that Confusion was not one of the signs of sepsis. I was totally shocked that a senior member of staff  would say that, as it is definitely a sign of sepsis.

I’m writing this as I understand the importance of noticing the signs of sepsis and could maybe save and help get other people treated more efficiently.  Thank god my mum has recovered but other people might not be so lucky. I understand how much pressure A&E is under but in my opinion this was down to lack of knowledge.