Tribute to Sir David Amess

We were all shocked to learn of the tragic death of Sir David Amess and many tributes were paid to him. The prime minister said he was “one of the kindest, nicest, most gentle people in politics.”

Sir Keir Starmer said, “I am thinking of David, the dedicated public servant that he was and of the depth of positive impact he had for the people he represented.” Their warm comments were echoed by numerous other MPs, with countless tributes describing him as one of the most committed and thoughtful politicians you could hope to meet.

We at Thrombosis UK also want to pay a tribute to him for his work in improving awareness and care of thrombosis. We have always worked closely with the All Party Parliamentary Group and Sir David was an active member, being Vice Chair in 2007-2008 when we were together campaigning for VTE risk assessment to be made mandatory when patients were admitted to hospital. In 2010 NHS England did ask all English hospitals to introduce mandatory VTE (venous thromboembolism) risk assessment and this has led to a major fall in the incidence of hospital-associated VTE. This would not have been possible without the combined forces of politicians such as Sir David, working with Thrombosis UK and health care professionals.

More recently in 2017-2019 Sir David because Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Thrombosis Group, and was a charming host at the Anticoagulant Achievement Awards, and gave away prizes. Thank you Sir David for caring about the issue of thrombosis, we will miss you.

Prof Beverley Hunt