Injury prevention
The number of patients treated at Barts and The London Trauma Centre is increasing year on year.
We are therefore committed to providing information, advice and education to patients and the public on the life-threatening dangers of serious injuries. Our aim is to reduce the number of people admitted (and re-admitted) to hospital with traumatic injury.
In 2006, of the 800 patients cared for by the trauma centre, 250 of those were related to knife and gun crime. This represents 30% of our cases.
The majority of our patients are young (65% under 40), so we are working with local youth and community organisations and schools to promote the dangers of gun and knife crime.
Our specialists also take time with individual patients and their families to explain the dangers and long-term medical implications of certain injuries. It is hoped that this process will reduce the number of patients who are admitted to hospital with these types of injuries.
Lead Trauma Consultant Karim Brohi attended a House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee dealing with Home Office spending.
He reported that The Royal London hospital dealt with 250 serious stabbing injuries during 2008, compared to only 68 in 2003. 95 per cent of victims were male but there has been an increase in teenage girls carrying knives.
Professor Brohi told MPs "The change is in the teenage group. That is the category with different reasons for carrying a weapon. They tend to be to do with school gangs.
"Nearly half the stabbings he saw were clearly intended to be fatal, with attackers aiming at or hitting the victim's head or chest."
Injury prevention initiatives at The Royal London Hospital are currently funded through the TIGER (Traumatic Injury Group for Education and Research) charity. To find out more information or to make a donation email Anita West, Trauma Nurse Coordinator.
