Dr Brett Abbenbroek

Dr Brett Abbenbroek is the Program Manager of Sepsis Australia and the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance (APSA) in the Critical Care Division at The George Institute.
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 extensive critical care clinical, education and management experience. His qualifications include intensive care, health management, a Bachelor of Science and Masters in Public Health. In May 2018 he completed his doctoral studies into the efficiency and effectiveness of organisational models in critical care and the impact on patient and nurse outcomes. Study findings inform the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines for new and redeveloped ICU’s.

Early in his career, Brett worked on several projects within developing nations including Nepal, Vanuatu and China to establish cardiac surgical and critical care programs. Concurrently, Brett gained experience in a range of health policy, planning, project management, digital health and clinical safety advisory roles. As the State-wide Coordinator for Critical Care Service Planning (NSW) across ICU, ED and medical retrieval services he worked closely with clinicians to enhance the development, integration and delivery of critical care services. This led to a successful Treasury bid for funding to build and implement the electronic Record for Intensive Care (NSW) for which Brett was the Program Manager for Change and Adoption. A health service planning and management consultancy business followed leading to project management roles within the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on a series of national eHealth clinical safety programs,  electronic medication safety and the development of evidence-based national clinical care standards. This experience was integral to the development and launch of the national Sepsis Clinical Care Standard in June 2022 which places Australia at the forefront globally towards achieving a systems-based approach for improving outcomes and reducing the burden of sepsis.