NHS acts over DVT following campaign by parents

Published on Monday 10 December 2007 01:15

A GRIEVING family's five-year campaign has resulted in Scotland's health boards being ordered to urgently update their policies for preventing and managing deep vein thrombosis.

Gordon and Jane McPherson have been calling for a better understanding of the potentially fatal condition since their daughter, Katie, died in 2003.

It emerged yesterday that the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and health watchdogs are writing to every board in Scotland demanding that they have standard policies for managing DVT based on the most recent advice. They have also been told to make patient information on the condition readily available.

The action comes after the McPherson family, from Langbank, Renfrewshire, went before Holyrood's public petitions committee to call for standard procedures to be brought in to help doctors spot the condition.

The family believe their daughter could have been saved if her condition was diagnosed earlier.

The Scottish Government

said the CMO and NHS Quality Improvement Scotland would write to boards "requiring them, as a matter of urgency, to address the need for written policies for the prevention and management of DVT" based on the relevant guidelines from experts.

The boards have been told they must report back in detail on their progress within two months.

Mr McPherson said the move was a "major breakthrough" in their long-running campaign.

Katie McPherson, 23, died in January 2003 of a pulmonary embolism after developing DVT. She saw her GP and doctors in two hospitals, but each time was sent away.