FAQs
What is major trauma?
Major trauma generally includes such injuries as:
- Amputation
- Severe knife and gunshot wounds
- Major head injury
- Multiple injuries
- Spinal injury
What is trauma?
Trauma generally includes injuries such as a fractured hip, minor head injury, fractured ankle.
What is a major trauma centre?
A major trauma centre will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and provide immediate treatment to people with the most serious injuries, including major head injuries, severe gunshot wounds, and serious road traffic accidents. By being treated in a major trauma centre, patients will have direct access to the best team of specialists including trauma diagnostics, neurosurgery and orthopaedics.
A major trauma centre will treat patients that are seriously injured including those with major head injuries, severe gunshot wounds, and serious road traffic accidents.
By being treated in a major trauma centre they will receive direct onsite, definitive treatment by a resident major trauma team, supported by specialists in areas including neurosurgery.
Major trauma patients are not common as only about 1,600 cases occur in London each year, but they are generally clinically complex and require access to a range of teams and specialties.
Why do we need major trauma centres?
There is currently poor coordination of the delivery of trauma services across London, and outcomes for major trauma patients would be improved if services were focused on a small number of specialist major trauma centres.
Offering comprehensive care for major trauma is incredibly complex and therefore it is vital to have access to dedicated teams and a wide range of specialties on one site. Not only will patient survival rates increase, but recovery periods will shorten.
Is this going to close my local hospital or A&E?
No, these major trauma networks will be an additional service. Major trauma care accounts for 0.1% of A&E patients.
Most hospital A&Es treat on average just one major trauma patient a week, so the change will not impact significantly on A&E workloads.
Are you cutting services?
No. This is about providing new, improved services.
Will the longer journey times from the scene be bad for the patient’s prospects of recovery?
For both stroke and major trauma services, evidence demonstrates that there are better outcomes for patients when initial treatment is given in specialist centres. It is far better to receive effective care slightly later than poor care quickly.
