Hospital trusts not doing enough to prevent blood clots

21 Nov 2008

MPs have said that many hospital trusts still do not do enough to protect patients from deadly blood clots.

The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, recommended last year that all patients should be checked to see if they’re at risk of venous thromboembolism.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Thrombosis revealed that 70% of hospitals are now carrying out these checks, compared to just a third of hospitals a year ago.

John Smith MP, the chairman of the group, has said he will challenge the chief executives of any trusts failing to carry out the checks.

To the disappointment of MPs, just 24% of trusts tell patients about the risks of hospital-acquired deep vein thrombosis when they arrive in hospital.

Professor Beverley Hunt, medical director of Lifeblood, the thrombosis charity, said, “The total costs of managing deep vein thrombosis within the NHS are estimated to be £640m, so it not only makes good clinical sense to prevent patients suffering from hospital-acquired DVT but the NHS could save a lot of money in the process by avoiding patient complications."

Deep-vein thrombosis will kill 30% of patients if left untreated. Deep-vein thrombosis acquired in hospital is the cause of 25,000 deaths a year.

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