Venous thromboembolism in adults: reducing the risk in hospital

Quality statement

Medical, surgical or trauma patients have their risk of VTE and bleeding assessed using a national tool as soon as possible after admission to hospital.

Quality measure

Structure: Evidence that medical, surgical and trauma patients have their risk of VTE and bleeding assessed using a national tool as soon as possible after admission to hospital.

Process: Proportion of medical, surgical and trauma patients who have their risk of VTE and bleeding assessed using a national tool as soon as possible after admission to hospital.

Numerator – the number in the denominator who have their risk of VTE and bleeding assessed using a national tool as soon as possible after admission to hospital.

Denominator – the number of medical, surgical or trauma patients admitted to hospital.

What the quality statement means for each audience

Service providers ensure that systems are in place for medical, surgical and trauma patients to be assessed for risk of VTE and bleeding using a national tool as soon as possible after admission.

Healthcare professionals assess medical, surgical and trauma patients for risk of VTE and bleeding using a national tool as soon as possible after admission.

Commissioners ensure services assess medical, surgical and trauma patients for risk of VTE and bleeding using a national tool as soon as possible after admission.

Medical, surgical and trauma patients have their risk of VTE and bleeding assessed using a national tool as soon as possible after they are admitted to hospital.

Definitions

This statement applies to medical, surgical and trauma patients admitted to hospital.

If the assessment for VTE and bleeding has been done at a pre-admission clinic, it should be reviewed for changes on admission using a national tool.

A national tool should be published by a national UK body, professional network or peer-reviewed journal. The most commonly used risk-assessment tool is the Department of Health and Social Care VTE risk assessment tool.

Data source

Structure: Local data collection.

Process: NHS England's VTE risk assessment statistics.