Venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment: Q3 2019/20

The venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk assessment data collection is used to inform a national quality requirement in the NHS Standard Contract for 2019/20, which sets an operational standard of 95% of inpatients (aged 16 and over at the time of admission) undergoing risk assessments each month.

The official statistics for VTE risk assessment in England for quarter three (Q3) 2019/20 (October to December 2019), produced by us, were released on 3 March 2020 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.

Summary of the data collection

The key results for the data collected on the number and percentage of VTE risk assessments on inpatients aged 16 and over admitted to NHS-funded acute care (NHS trusts, NHS foundation trusts and independent sector providers) in quarter 3 (Q3) 2019/20 are:

  1. England continues to achieve the 95% NHS Standard Contract threshold. Of the 4 million admitted inpatients aged 16 and over for whom data was reported in this collection, 3.8 million (95%) were risk assessed for VTE on admission.
  2. The percentage of inpatients risk assessed for VTE remained at 96% from Q3 2015/16 to Q4 2016/17. It decreased to 95% between Q1 2017/18 and Q4 2017/18. In Q1 2018/19 performance increased to 96% but decreased in Q2 2018/19 to 95%. In Q3 2018/19 performance increased to 96% and remained at 96% in Q4 2018/19 and Q1 2019/20. Performance decreased to 95% in Q2 2019/20 and remained at 95% in Q3 2019/20.
  3. In Q3 2019/20, the percentage of admitted inpatients aged 16 and over at the time of admission risk assessed for VTE was 95% for NHS acute care providers and 98% for independent sector providers. NHS acute care providers carried out about 97% of all VTE risk assessments.
  4. Six regions (North East and Yorkshire, North West, Midlands, East of England, London and South East) achieved the 95% NHS Standard Contract operational standard in Q3 2019/20 (see Table 2 in VTE commentary document above). The South West did not meet the operational standard and risk assessed 92.9% of inpatients.
  5. In Q3 2019/20, 80% of providers (238 of the 299 providers) carried out a VTE risk assessment for 95% or more of their admissions (the NHS Standard Contract operational standard). This breaks down as 71% of NHS acute providers (107 of 150) and 88% of independent sector providers (131 of 149).
  6. Of the 61 providers (20%) that did not achieve the 95% operational standard in Q3 2019/20, 69% (42 of 61) risk assessed between 90% and 95% of total admissions for VTE.