London’s major trauma centres are saving lives – Rob Bentley
13 June 2017
Rob Bentley, Clinical Director of the South East London Kent and Medway Major Trauma Network at King’s College Hospital, says that the dedicated major trauma centres are saving “lives, patients who would undoubtedly have died prior to this system being set up”.
Speaking to Kat Lay on The Times following the terrorist attack on London Bridge, Rob explains: “The quicker we can get these poor patients to the best centre to deal with their injuries the better their chances of survival.”
King’s is the base for the network’s Major Trauma Centre, and together with seven other Trauma Units they cover a population of 4.5 million people. As a result, the network is able to provide a robust response to major incidents from a train accident to terrorism, and save hundreds of lives. The 2015 Queen Mary University of London and the London Regional Trauma System review of the capital’s network found that the survival rate of severely injured patients had risen by 50% over five years.
The 26 major trauma networks were set up following the critical 2007 report Trauma: who cares? by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD into the state of trauma care in the UK), which conducted an in-depth review into trauma care across the country.
“At the King’s Trauma Centre we care for people with severe injuries regularly as part of the wider network, and combined with regular exercises this has certainly helped us deal with incidents such as Manchester and London Bridge,” Rob Bentley says, adding: “The more you do, the better you get.”
Mr Robert Bentley, Consultant Cranio-Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, is Clinical Director South East London Kent and Medway Major Trauma Network
London Specialist Training Programme Director for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
View Other News