Weigh patients before treating clots, says NPSA

The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has issued a Rapid Response Report to urge NHS organisations across England and Wales to document a patient’s weight before treating blood clots.

The guidance was drawn up following 2,716 patient safety incidents relating to treatment of blood clots between January 2005 and September 2009. Of these, three incidents resulted in severe harm to the patient and one incident led to death.

The Rapid Response Report urges NHS organisations to:

• Accurately record the patient’s weight at the start of the consultation and, where necessary, during the course of administering the treatment, and use the findings to calculate the dose required
• Ensure dosage checks are made by healthcare professionals who review, dispense or administer the medicine.

The guidance also recommends that doctors measure a patient’s renal function when considering the dose of low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) to administer. This is to avoid the possibility of renal failure in patients with poor functioning kidneys, who may have a build-up of LMWH in their body.