Award-winning clinic now open at the Horton General Hospital
09/10/2019
This article is more than four years old.
An award-winning clinic is now running at the Horton General Hospital.
The Oxford Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) clinic is a nurse-led, one-stop diagnostic clinic which sees patients with suspected DVT referred by GPs, outpatient departments and emergency departments.
Patients are offered appointments on the same day or within 24 hours, as rapid treatment is an essential part of successfully treating DVT.
They will then be seen by a registered nurse who will carry out a full assessment and, if appropriate, an ultrasound scan will be carried out by radiographers in one of five dedicated diagnostic scan appointments. If diagnosed with DVT, patients will then be treated, counselled, and followed up by the DVT clinic in partnership with the Rowan Ambulatory Unit at the Horton.
The Horton branch of the DVT clinic opened on Monday 30 September 2019, and will initially run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 9.00am and 5.00pm before expanding to Monday to Friday in the New Year. Patients in the north of Oxfordshire will be able to attend the clinic in a newly refurbished room in the Pathology Department, meaning they can receive treatment much closer to home.
Sam Foster, Chief Nursing Officer at the Trust, said: "We're so pleased to be bringing this service to the Horton. The Oxford DVT clinic receives consistently excellent feedback from patients in terms of efficiency and quality of care, and the fact this this facility will be available at the Horton means that people can receive this excellent care without having to travel into Oxford.
"The clinic also helps to reduce attendances to emergency departments - if patients are referred to us by their GPs or other healthcare providers, we can put a treatment plan in place to make sure the issue is addressed quickly."
Victoria Prentis, MP for North Oxfordshire, said: "This is wonderful news for the Horton, and for people in Banbury and the surrounding areas.
"The addition of more diagnostic services is a very positive step, and any service that means reduced travel time for patients is welcome."
The launch of the clinic coincides with World Thrombosis Day on 13 October 2019, which looks to raise awareness of deep vein thrombosis and other associated conditions, and what can be done to prevent and alleviate them.