1263 Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Risk Assessment and Thromboprophylaxis Among Hospitalised Patients: A Single-Centre Closed Loop Audit

Abstract

Abstract Aim With an estimated incidence rate of 1 to 2 cases per 1,000 population, venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the United Kingdom. It is reported that VTE is responsible for approximately 60,000 deaths per annum. Furthermore, VTE has a huge financial impact on the NHS. It is reported that VTE treatment costs the NHS approximately £640 million every year. Notably, at least two-thirds of hospital-acquired VTE are preventable. NICE guideline recommends that all patients should be risk-assessed on admission and re-assessed at the point of consultant review [NG89]. The purpose of this closed-loop audit was to evaluate the effectiveness of simple interventions in improving the efficiency of VTE risk assessments at a large teaching hospital. Method Results from the first cycle were analysed and interventions were implemented with the aim to improve the standard of practice. These include the utilisation of technology in VTE risk assessments, mandatory teaching sessions and the development of prompts within clerking proformas. A repeat audit was subsequently performed to re-assess the new standard of practice and the effectiveness of these interventions. Results Our VTE risk assessment completion rates increased substantially from 16.67% to 100% and the median time taken to complete VTE risk re-assessments also improved notably from 97 to 21 hours. Positive feedbacks have been received on the effectiveness of these interventions. Conclusions By implementing these simple interventions, we can see a substantial improvement in the standards of VTE risk assessments, in compliance with the NHS Standard Contract and NICE guidelines.