BLOOD CLOTS

Venous thromboembolism

Blood clots are the cause of the greatest number of preventable hospital deaths (Lifeblood 2010). Hospital-acquired blood clots claim an estimated 25,000 deaths each year, accounting for one in 10 deaths in hospital (Lifeblood 2010). Evidence suggests that the perception that thrombosis is a condition only affecting older people is false. The Lifeblood charity has obtained data from the Office of National Statistics which show that deaths in the under 50s have reached nearly 3,000 between 2005 and 2008 (Lifeblood 2010). Despite the impact of hospital-acquired and community-acquired thrombosis little direct funding is available to tackle blood clot prevention.

The research evidence around assessment and appropriate prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) has been evaluated by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 2010a) which will also produce a related Quality Standard (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 2010b). The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (2010) has pledged to reduce the number of avoidable deaths from VTE in the UK. The joint action recommended by the Department of Health, strategic health authorities and professional leads includes assessment of risk in primary care at time of referral to hospital. It also recommends setting systems to ensure VTE assessment, regular audit of patients risk-assessed for VTE, and reinforcement of the importance of VTE through educational programmes (Academy of Medical Royal Colleges 2010; Keogh 2010). The RCN's patient safety resource will provide a place for material about VTE which will be updated as the RCN's contribution to the UK wide programme progresses.

The RCN has mapped available UK learning and development material on VTE: http://www.rcn.org.uk/development/practice/patient_safety/vte