IPSWICH Hospital is preparing to join a lifesaving campaign to help stop patients developing blood clots.

IPSWICH Hospital is preparing to join a lifesaving campaign to help stop patients developing blood clots.

The hospital is changing the way it assesses all patients that come through its doors in a bid to tackle the killer problem.

The initiative, which starts on Wednesday comes after the charity AntiCoagulation Europe launched its Stop the Clot campaign.

It said as many as 370 lives could be saved each year in Suffolk if more was done to prevent blood clots.

Specialist blood doctors at Ipswich Hospital are supporting the campaign and information posters are being displayed around the site.

A documented admissions assessment is being introduced so those at risk of the clots are identified early.

Dr Isobel Chalmers, haematology lead for anticoagulation at the hospital, said: “The hospital's Thrombosis Group has worked on new guidelines to ensure that all patients admitted to the hospital are assessed for their risk of developing blood clots.

“We have developed a new drug chart with a specific risk assessment which will be performed for each patient by their admitting doctor.”

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. And to back the campaign visit www.stoptheclot.com.

Have you been affected by a blood clot? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.