By phone to:
Anticoagulation office 0161 419 5624 (Please leave message on answerphone)

By email:
anticoag@stockport.nhs.uk

Office open 9am to 5pm
Clinic opening times can be found here (by appointment only) 

Welcome to the anticoagulation therapy service. This is a nurse/biomedical scientist led service for people who are being treated with oral anticoagulant therapies.  The service offers patient counselling and monitoring of oral anticoagulants.

Warfarin belongs to a group of medicines known as anticoagulants. They decrease the clotting ability of the blood and prevent clots from forming in blood vessels and also stop formed clots from becoming larger. 

Reducing the bloods ability to clot aids prevention of conditions such as stroke and heart attack.  Other high risk groups include atrial fibrillation, artificial heart  valve replacements, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

People taking oral anticoagulants need to have regular blood tests to ensure the drug is stable.  We will check this by using a measurement called an INR (International Normalised Ratio).  The blood test is very quick and involves taking a small sample of blood from your thumb.  The aim is to keep the INR within a certain range.

We run anticoagulant clinics throughout Stockport and Buxton. Although patients will be allocated a clinic that is convenient for them, they are able to attend any of the clinics that we run.

We use point of care testing which is a thumb prick rather than a sample taken from the vein and the result is instant.  Your dose will be given to you at your appointment along with your following anticoagulation appointment.

We provide 18 clinics throughout the week is different areas of Stockport and Buxton and patients are given a choice of which clinic they can attend.

You will be referred to the anticoagulant service by either your GP or the hospital. You will then receive  a phone call and/or a letter from the anticoagulant service with your appointment and instructions.

Your first anticoagulant visit will be the longest as you will watch a 20 minute informative DVD and see the specialist anticoagulant nurse. This will be at Stepping Hill Hospital in outpatient department C. You will be given information on anticoagulants, why you are taking it, what you should and should not do whilst taking anticoagulants and have the opportunity to ask questions about your treatment. The hospital will only provide you with anticoagulants on your first visit. Repeat prescriptions are obtained from your GP.

You may be required to attend anticoagulant clinics frequently initially and your dose may be changed at each of these visits.  Once the dose has become stabilized your appointment will be less frequent.