CHFT is one of only 30 trusts in the UK to be awarded the distinction of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) exemplar status by the National VTE exemplar network, led by Kings College, London.

Consultant, Prasad Karadi, said: “VTE indicates blood clots that usually occur in veins commonly in the legs or lungs. Hospital associated Venous Thromboembolism (HAT) is one of most common cause of harm including serious harm associated with hospital stay that is potentially preventable. 

“Simply put, VTE prevention saves lives.”

This milestone has taken more than 10 years of dedicated work with leadership and innovation led by the Trust Thrombosis team, pictured below.

This has resulted in:

• A significant improvement in our VTE risk assessment performance (consistently achieving >95% risk assessment)
• Robust investigation of all hospital associated venous thromboembolism (HAT) incidents using radiology database and real time feedback to the team
• Quality improvement and regular audits in areas such as provision of VTE Prophylaxis and patient information
• Establishing dedicated VTE education with the creation of VTE champions across different divisions and readily available VTE policies/guidelines on intranet.

Prasad added: “Because of all these improvements and initiatives we have one of the lowest incidences of avoidable Hospital associated VTE in the country and have not had avoidable HA-VTE related death for more than two years.

“The exemplar status will help to network with other like-minded organisations and share expertise and learning to ensure rapid and efficient uptake of best practice going forward.”

VTE Exemplar Centres were created by the Department of Health in 2007 as a way of recognising excellence in VTE prevention care and encouraging leadership and innovation in the field.