Preventing venous thromboembolism.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of long-term disability, chronic ill health and mortality, causing about 25,000 deaths a year in hospitals in England. It is recognised as a clinical priority for the NHS by the National Quality Board, which established a VTE board to mainstream and embed VTE prevention in NHS activity by 2012 (Keogh 2011) through the national VTE programme. This article describes NHS East of England's approach to implementing the programme.