Patients not told of danger of blood clots following surgery

PATIENTS are being kept in the dark about the danger of hospital-acquired blood clots, it was claimed yesterday.

Half the former surgical patients questioned for a UK-wide survey said no-one discussed the risk of blood clots with them in hospital.

Yet blood clots are the biggest cause of hospital deaths in the UK, accounting for an estimated 25,000 fatalities each year.

Professor Beverly Hunt, medical director of Lifeblood: The Thrombosis Charity, said: "This is a widespread, life-threatening problem – both healthcare professionals and the public have a part to play to ensure that this leading cause of death is prevented as much as possible.

"Today's research clearly shows that there is a huge education gap concerning hospital acquired blood clots.."

The survey showed that the MRSA superbug, hospital food, and noisy wards were greater causes of concern than blood clots but previous research has shown that clots kill 20 times more patients than MRSA.