Plain-English explanations of the technical terms and legislation used in this document.
- Anaesthetist
- A doctor who specialises in giving anaesthesia and managing a patient's care before, during and after a procedure.
- Anti-embolism (graduated compression) stockings
- Specially fitted stockings that gently squeeze the legs to keep blood moving and reduce the risk of a clot.
- Anticoagulant
- A medicine that reduces the blood's ability to clot, often called a blood thinner.
- Antiplatelet
- A medicine that makes the blood less likely to form clots by stopping tiny blood cells called platelets from sticking together.
- Bleeding risk
- The chance that giving a clot-preventing medicine could cause or worsen bleeding, which has to be weighed against the risk of a clot.
- Blood-thinning medicine
- A common name for an anticoagulant, a medicine that reduces the blood's ability to clot.
- Body mass index (BMI)
- A measure of whether a person's weight is healthy for their height.
- Care Quality Commission (CQC)
- The independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
- Contemporaneous record
- A record written at the time of, or as soon as possible after, the event it describes.
- Contraindicated
- A situation where a particular treatment or device should not be used because it could cause harm.
- Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK law that governs how organisations collect, store and use people's personal information.
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
- A blood clot that forms in a deep vein, most often in a leg, which may cause pain, swelling, warmth or redness.
- Department of Health and Social Care
- The UK government department responsible for health and social care policy in England.
- Direct oral anticoagulant
- A type of blood-thinning medicine taken by mouth that helps prevent or treat blood clots.
- Duty of candour
- The legal duty to be open and honest with a person and their family when something goes wrong with their care.
- Epidural
- An injection of pain-relieving medicine into the space around the spinal cord, often used during surgery or childbirth.
- Fondaparinux
- An injectable medicine that helps prevent blood clots.
- Fundamental standards
- The minimum standards of safety and quality below which care must never fall.
- General anaesthetic
- Medicine that puts a patient fully to sleep so they feel nothing during a procedure.
- General practitioner (GP)
- A family doctor who provides everyday medical care in the community.
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014
- The regulations setting out the fundamental standards that providers of regulated health and social care must meet.
- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- Treatment using hormones, often given around the menopause, that can slightly increase the risk of blood clots.
- Hospital-acquired
- A condition that develops as a result of being admitted to hospital or having a procedure, rather than being present beforehand.
- Human Medicines Regulations 2012
- The UK law governing how medicines are licensed, prescribed, supplied and administered.
- Intermittent pneumatic compression
- Inflatable sleeves placed around the legs that squeeze gently in cycles to keep blood moving and prevent clots.
- Low molecular weight heparin (LMWH)
- A type of injectable blood-thinning medicine commonly used to prevent blood clots.
- Lumbar puncture
- A procedure in which a needle is inserted into the lower back to take a sample of the fluid around the spinal cord.
- Mechanical prophylaxis
- Physical devices, such as compression stockings or inflatable sleeves, used to keep blood moving and reduce the risk of a clot.
- Mental Capacity Act 2005
- The law that protects and supports people who may be unable to make particular decisions for themselves.
- Mobilisation
- Getting a patient up and moving as soon as it is safe after a procedure to help blood flow and recovery.
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
- The national body that produces evidence-based guidance on treatments and care in England.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused harm but did not, by chance or because it was caught in time.
- Neuraxial anaesthesia
- Pain relief or anaesthesia given near the spinal cord, such as a spinal or epidural injection.
- NG89
- The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline that sets out how to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired blood clots in people aged 16 and over.
- Oedema
- Swelling caused by a build-up of fluid in the body's tissues, often in the legs or ankles.
- Oestrogen-containing contraception
- Forms of contraception, such as the combined pill, that contain the hormone oestrogen and can slightly increase the risk of blood clots.
- Operating department practitioner
- A registered healthcare professional who helps care for patients before, during and after surgery.
- Peripheral arterial disease
- A narrowing of the arteries that reduces blood flow to the limbs, usually the legs.
- Pharmacological prophylaxis
- Medicines given to reduce blood clotting and so prevent blood clots.
- Platelet
- A tiny blood cell that helps the blood to clot and stop bleeding.
- Prophylaxis
- Treatment or measures given to prevent a condition rather than to treat one that has already occurred.
- Pulmonary embolism (PE)
- A blood clot, usually coming from a deep vein thrombosis, that travels to and blocks an artery in the lung; a life-threatening emergency.
- Registered Manager
- The person registered with the regulator as responsible for the day-to-day running of a service.
- Regulated activity
- A type of care or treatment the law requires a provider to register with the regulator to deliver.
- Renal function
- How well the kidneys are working, which affects how some medicines are dosed and cleared from the body.
- Risk assessment
- A structured check identifying what could cause harm and what is being done to prevent it.
- Risk-assessment tool
- A recognised, structured form used to assess a patient's risk of a blood clot and their risk of bleeding.
- Single assessment framework
- The structure the regulator uses to judge a service, built around quality statements and five key questions (safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led).
- Spinal (anaesthesia)
- An injection of anaesthetic into the fluid around the spinal cord to numb the lower part of the body for a procedure.
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
- A written, step-by-step instruction setting out how a particular task is to be carried out consistently and safely.
- Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC)
- The official document that tells healthcare staff how a particular medicine should be used, including its doses, cautions and side effects.
- Thrombocytopenia
- A lower than normal number of platelets in the blood, which can increase the risk of bleeding.
- Thrombophilia
- An inherited or acquired tendency for the blood to clot more easily than normal.
- Thromboprophylaxis
- Measures, whether devices or medicines, taken specifically to prevent blood clots forming in the veins.
- Thrombus
- A blood clot that forms inside a blood vessel.
- UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The UK's main data-protection law governing how personal information is collected and used.
- Venous stasis
- A slowing of blood flow in the veins, which makes a clot more likely to form.
- Venous thromboembolism (VTE)
- A blood clot that forms in a vein, covering both deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.