A LIFESAVING campaign is being launched in Suffolk to reduce the number of people who die needlessly from blood clots.

A LIFESAVING campaign is being launched in Suffolk to reduce the number of people who die needlessly from blood clots.

Healthcare charity AntiCoagulation Europe wants to tackle the threat of the clots acquired in hospital which can kill but are easily preventable.

It has launched the Stop the Clot campaign in Suffolk to raise awareness among patients and their carers, which it believes could save as many as 370 lives in the county each year.

Eve Knight, chief executive of AntiCoagulation Europe, said: “Blood clots are the largest cause of preventable hospital deaths in the UK, and they are also one of the easiest to avoid.

“But few people are aware that their risk of clots should be assessed when they are admitted to hospital.

“By running the Stop the Clot campaign, we are encouraging people who are admitted into hospital to ask a doctor or a nurse for a blood clot risk assessment for themselves, or their loved one, to reduce their risk of becoming another blood clot statistic.”

In addition to causing thousands of unnecessary deaths, harmful blood clots can cause chronic health problems that require lifelong treatment and can severely limit everyday activities.

Nationally as many as 32,000 people in the UK die each year as a result of blood clots they get while in hospital.

To order an information booklet on how to prevent hospital acquired blood clots call 0800 6946444.

Has a blood clot killed one of your loved ones? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

AntiCoagulation Europe - websiteStop the clot - Official websiteGet your FREE information booklet