NATIONAL THROMBOSIS WEEK

That this House welcomes and supports National Thrombosis Week; recognises that 25,000 people in the UK die each year of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), many due to hospital-acquired DVT; notes that a report by the All Party Parliamentary Thrombosis Group in 2007 revealed that only one third of NHS trusts were following best practice, as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and the Chief Medical Officer, to risk assess all patients for DVT on admission to hospital; fully supports the campaign by the thrombosis charity, Lifeblood, to expose the existing NHS postcode lottery in risk-assessing potentially fatal blood clots; and calls upon all NHS trusts to ensure that all in-patients are risk assessed for DVT.