Oxford University Hospitals launches blood clot app

Staff from Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have developed a new app called Let’s Talk Clots, to provide patients with information on blood clots and how to reduce the risk of them.

Working in collaboration with Thrombosis UK, the team has created a free app, aimed at patients who are in hospital or who are being discharged from hospital. At these times there is a risk that a blood clot could form so it’s vital for patients to know the warning signs to look out for.

Details of the new app will be added to patients’ discharge paperwork, with a longer-term plan for adding it to patients’ admission paperwork too.

Patients should see their GP or go to A&E immediately if they experience any new redness, pain or swelling to their legs; have difficulty breathing; feel faint; cough up blood; or have chest pains.

The app flags up these serious symptoms of a blood clot, as well as makes suggestions for reducing the risk, explains how a blood clot is diagnosed and details UK-approved treatments and therapies.

All of the information in the app has been medically approved and developed in collaboration with Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Thrombosis UK, patients and healthcare providers.

In addition, the app is also a useful tool for anyone who is recovering after a blood clot. Patients will find details about recovery, managing the anxiety and worry around the issue, regaining well-being and fitness and returning to everyday activities.

There is also information that blood clot patients may need to consider around life events, such as pregnancy, family planning, travel and managing other conditions and treatments alongside the risk factors or a personal medical history of thrombosis.

Sarah Havord, venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention nurse at Oxford University Hospitals, said: “This resource is very much needed, providing free access to medically-approved information across the blood clot journey and, I believe, will help to save lives and restore lives affected by blood clots.

“The app started simply as an idea of mine, and has been developed in collaboration with Thrombosis UK, allied healthcare professionals, individuals who have been diagnosed with a blood clot, and their family members.”