More could be done to save patients from hospital blood clots - inquiry (From Free Press Series)

More could be done to save patients from hospital blood clots - inquiry

5:30pm Friday 12th October 2012 in News

AN INQUIRY by a National Assembly for Wales committee has found hundreds of lives could be saved if clinicians stuck to guidelines on hospital-acquired blood clots.

The health and social care committee was told around 900 deaths in Wales in 2010 were due to or associated with hospitalacquired blood clots or thromboses.

The committee was told up to 70 percent of these deaths could have been avoided if appropriate measures were in place.

Committee chairman Mark Drakeford AM said the committee has raised concerns at evidence some clinicians routinely ignore guidelines.

He added: “We are also concerned that assessment methods are not just inconsistent across local health boards in Wales but can be inconsistent across different departments within the same hospital.”

The committee has made recommendations and said the performance of local health boards in reducing the number of blood clot cases should be measured as a priority