Brett Abbenbroek

Dr Brett Abbenbroek is the Program Manager of Sepsis Australia and the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance (APSA) in the Critical Care Program at The George Institute. His APSA responsibilities extend to a coalition of 23 countries across the Asia Pacific, managing region-wide initiatives in education, research and quality improvement for better outcomes in sepsis survivors. Stopping Sepsis - National Sepsis Action Plan. These responsibilities also extend to APSA which is a coalition of 23 countries across the Asia Pacific to manage regionwide initiatives in education, research and quality improvement for better outcomes in sepsis survivors.

Brett is a Registered Nurse with over 40 years of experience in clinical, education, research and management roles in critical care and emergency; and extensive international experience in establishing cardiac surgical and critical care services in China, Croatia, Indonesia, Nepal, and Vanuatu. His leadership role for critical care service planning in NSW includes the statewide integrated service model for intensive care and medical retrieval, NSW ECMO Helicopter Medical Retrieval Service, and the statewide electronic Record for Intensive Care. He established a health service planning and management consultancy business, leading to project management roles within the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) on the national eHealth and electronic medication safety program, and development national clinical care standards for health service accreditation.

In 2018, Brett completed his doctoral studies on the efficiency and effectiveness of critical care service models, and the association with organisational reliability and outcomes for patients and the nurse workforce (‘The Hot-Floor Study’). This work informs the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines for new and redeveloped ICUs. His track record in implementation research, linking research and practice, is exemplified in national and international studies on the efficacy of sepsis detection tools for incorporation into the ‘National Consensus Statement: Recognising and Responding to Acute Physiological Deterioration’; point-of-care testing for sepsis in remote Australia and for First Nations peoples; consumer based prioritisation for best practice in post sepsis models of care and associated clinical indicators for monitoring and evaluation within the Australian Health Service Safety and Quality Accreditation Scheme; and translation of global sepsis best practice guidelines through global Delphi expert consensus research into context specific guidelines for clinicians practicing in low resource settings.  

In his current role, Brett is driving implementation of the Stopping Sepsis National Action Plan and Sepsis Clinical Care Standard, and projects to reduce the impact and burden of sepsis.