5 February 2010

The lives of more than 3,000 patients could be saved each year if the trauma care system pioneered at The Royal London Hospital is rolled out across England.

An integrated trauma service has been proven to save lives and improve outcomes for severely injured patients according to a study by researchers at Barts and The London Medical School published in this month’s British Journal of Surgery.

Trauma* is a leading cause of death in the UK, accounting for over 16,000 deaths a year with national mortality rates for severely injured patients remaining unacceptably high.

The UK lags behind other countries such as the USA with 20% more patients dying here from their injuries.

The Royal London Hospital – officially designated as a major trauma centre in July 2009 - has pioneered and refined the delivery of trauma care.

Since 2003, it has had a multi-disciplinary trauma service with every trauma patient being assigned a team of consultants from different specialities looking after each of their specific injuries.

There is also a designated team overseeing the patient’s overall care and rehabilitation.

The Royal London Hospital is also now the hub for the largest network of trauma hospitals in the UK.  Home to London's air ambulance, the hospital provides specialist major trauma care for millions across London and the South East.

Consultant Trauma Surgeon Mike Walsh, who leads the trauma team, has played a key role in establishing the trauma care system at The Royal London.

He said: “The impact of the changes we made to the way we delivered trauma care have been significant and exceeded our expectations. 

 “Our analysis of the data shows that the average length of stay in hospital has decreased significantly for severely injured patients, from 20 to 13 days, and the critically injured from 25 to 14 days.

“The number of patients dying as a result of severe injury fell by 48 per cent from 2000 to 2005 with a sharp decrease in mortality rate associated with the start of our trauma service in 2003.”

“By 2005, survival of trauma patients at the Royal London Hospital was better than the national average and was equivalent to that in the USA, despite the patients we were seeing being more severely injured.”

The Royal London is taking a leading role in establishing London’s major trauma system.

Mr Walsh said: “We want to share best practice from the Royal London with other UK centres as they develop their trauma capability.

“This study reinforces the need to press ahead with a national trauma system so more lives can be saved and we can make a real difference to the quality of life for trauma patients.”

Contact: Shannon Gillespie - Press Office - Direct line 020 7480 4891

- ENDS -

Notes for editors

* Trauma: a disease caused by physical injury to the body. This may be due to car crashes, collisions, falls, entrapments, burns and assaults.

• A trauma centre is commonly thought of simply as a large hospital with all the relevant specialities and facilities on site however a national trauma system requires specialist trauma hospitals, not hospitals with trauma specialities. In association with the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) and Accident and Emergency department, the trauma service at the Royal London Hospital provides a comprehensive trauma team incorporating general surgeons, orthopaedic and plastic surgeons. There are always two teams available on call 24-hours a day, every day of the year.
• For a copy of the paper in the British Journal of Surgery contact the Press Office on 020 7480 4892.
• The study was performed using data from the Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN) for England and Wales, the Royal London Hospital trauma registry and the US National Trauma Databank.
• The Royal London Hospital sees 1400 trauma patients a year of which around 400 are severely injured.  This number is expected to increase with the institution of the new trauma system. 
• Barts and The London NHS Trust is leading world-class research programmes into understanding the effect of injury on the body and in developing new treatments to improve outcomes for trauma patients. For more information go to: /trauma_centre/

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