The All-Party Parliamentary Thrombosis Group (APPTG) has welcomed the DH’s decision to mandate venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention in the Operating Framework for the NHS in 2010/11.
The All-Party Group has been campaigning for the inclusion of VTE prevention as a key step in reducing up to 25,000 annual avoidable deaths and saving the NHS over half a billion pounds a year.
The DH announcement follows the publication of the APPTG annual survey of acute Trusts in England. It found that only 41% of Trusts are able to demonstrate that all hospital inpatients are being risk-assessed and are receiving appropriate preventative treatment as recommended by the Chief Medical Officer and NICE.
Crucially, the move to mandate VTE prevention was supported by over three quarters of Trusts – 77% thought this would be the most effective way to drive compliance with VTE prevention policies at the ward level.
The DH decision will apply to all Strategic Health Authorities, which will be able to recoup money paid to hospitals for procedures where patients have not been risk-assessed for VTE.
Professor Beverley Hunt, Medical Director, Lifeblood: The Thrombosis Charity, said:
“Our campaign for reducing deaths from hospital-acquired VTE has always recognised that mandating VTE prevention is critical to ensuring all patients are risk-assessed and given appropriate prophylaxis. We are pleased VTE has finally been given the priority it deserves, and we can now begin to make a real impact in reducing the estimated 25,000 unnecessary deaths that occur from the condition each year.”
Dr Richard Taylor MP, Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Thrombosis Group, added: “We are delighted the Government has responded to the growing momentum of the medical profession in its support for mandating VTE prevention. The challenge will now be to ensure that mandatory policies are audited by a meaningful indicator, so that compliance with risk-assessment and thromboprophylaxis policies is measured on a national scale.”