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Haematology (incl blood transfusion)
Research
Current practice of venous thromboembolism prevention in acute trusts: a qualitative study
  1. L McFarland1,
  2. E Murray1,
  3. S Harrison2,
  4. C Heneghan2,
  5. A Ward2,
  6. D Fitzmaurice1,
  7. S Greenfield1
  1. 1Primary Care Clinical Sciences, School of Health and Population Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
  2. 2Department of Primary Health Care, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  1. Correspondence to Professor David Fitzmaurice; D.A.Fitzmaurice{at}bham.ac.uk

Abstract

Objective To explore the current practice of venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention in acute trusts.

Design A qualitative research design was used to explore the perceived current practice of thromboprophylaxis, and knowledge and experience of VTE prevention. Data were collected via interviews with personnel from acute trusts and other relevant organisations and charities. Constant comparison was used to generate themes grounded in the data.

Setting The UK.

Participants 17 participants, sampled due to their expertise and knowledge in the field of VTE, were interviewed for the study.

Results No one felt directly responsible for VTE risk assessment and treatment in acute trusts. There were concerns whether any action takes place based on the risk assessment. Low levels of VTE knowledge existed throughout the system.

Conclusions Our study highlights the importance of continuous training to prevent VTE risk assessment being considered a tick box exercise and for clinicians to understand the significance of the procedure to ensure that VTE preventative measures are administered. It is essential that acute trust staff acknowledge that VTE prevention is the responsibility of everyone involved in a patient's care. Concerns remain around prophylaxis treatment, administration and contraindications.

  • QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 3.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005074

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