Lifeblood: The Thrombosis Charity Backs Parliament's Push to

Press Release:

Lifeblood: The Thrombosis Charity Backs Parliament's Push to 'Stop the Clots'

Press Release
News Article March 2005

Lifeblood: The Thrombosis Charity has praised an All Party Parliamentary Health Select Committee Report recommending preventative measures for the development of venous thrombosis in patients, following surgery and during, or just after, hospital stays.

The Report, published today, sets out guidelines that could help prevent tens of thousands of known thrombosis-related deaths in the UK each year.

"Venous thromboembolism - or VTE - is the most common cause of hospital deaths in the UK that can be prevented - many times greater than the widely publicised MRSA," comments Dr Beverley Hunt, medical director for Lifeblood.

"This All Party Parliamentary Select Committee has issued its recommendations to the Government in a bid to cut the alarming death rate from VTE. Lifeblood urges the Department of Health and NHS to implement these recommendations immediately." said Dr Hunt

The key recommendations of the Report are:

- That the current National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on the prevention of thrombosis be extended to cover the majority of hospital patients and that they be introduced earlier than the current timing of May 2007.

- That on admission to hospital all patients are counselled on the risks of VTE and undergo a risk assessment to determine if drugs should be administered.

- That to raise awareness amongst medical practitioners of the extent of the problem all physicians and surgeons are informed if their patients contract VTE after they have been discharged from hospital.

- That the NHS ensures the guidelines are fully implemented. The Department of Health, NICE and the Royal Colleges should work together to raise awareness of the extent of VTE and to audit the use of the guidelines.

- That thrombosis committees and thrombosis teams be established in each hospital to promote best practice and to be a source of education and training of all staff.

The risk factors for VTE are well known and can be relatively easily spotted, so, according to Lifeblood, risk-assessment at the time a patient is admitted to hospital with appropriate thromboprophylaxis (preventative measures) could reduce the incidence of a thrombosis significantly.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is common in hospital in-patients - those undergoing both surgical and medical treatments. Up to 30 per cent of surgical patients can develop a DVT if no preventative measures are given, and this condition can lead to sudden death due to pulmonary embolism. Pulmonary embolism following DVT is the immediate cause of death in 10 per cent of all patients who die in hospital.

"In hospital medicine we should be reaching the stage where we don't question whether a patient needs preventative measures for thrombosis - we just make a clinical assumption that they do. Then we ask whether there is any reason why they shouldn't receive treatments to prevent clots." adds Dr Hunt.

"This Report can help the NHS get to that stage sooner."

This press release is provided in good-faith by Chiltern Magazine Services Ltd ("CMS") as a service to users of www.telecomsinfo.com. Whilst all care is taken in sourcing and preparing material includede here, any error or incorrect content cannot form the basis for any legal action against the site-owner. Users are advised to check the accuracy of any statements before relying upon them. Likewise, any forward-looking statements made by the author of the press release should be treated as such.

CMS, P&A House, Alma Road, Chesham, Bucks. HP5 3HB, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1494 771734
Fax: +44 (0)1494 778994
e-mail: Editor, CMSinfo

For more information about us, visit CMSinfo.