A brand-new Netflix documentary airing on Wednesday 23 July will showcase the heroic work of London’s four major trauma centres.
A brand-new Netflix documentary airing on Wednesday 23 July will showcase the heroic work of London’s four major trauma centres.
The London Major Trauma System treats over 12,000 people with serious injuries each year, according to NHS England. The busiest of those is at The Royal London Hospital – one of the five hospitals we support.
Over more than a decade, we have invested in several trauma projects because we want to help Barts Health NHS Trust staff to be able to save as many lives as possible.
Critical bleeding was a major concern at the trauma ward. But now, more lives are being saved than ever before at The Royal London Hospital. In 2007, only 50% of patients survived severe bleeding. Now 80% survive. The ambition is to get to 90% by 2030.
One of the biggest achievements to come out of the Centre for Trauma Sciences is the introduction of the Major Haemorrhage Protocol (also known as Code Red). Code Red has completely revolutionised the way trauma patients are treated across the globe. It involves early activation of blood product transfusion, damage control surgery, and targeted resuscitation strategies.
Over 20,000 severely injured patients per year are admitted to trauma centres in the UK. And around 10% of these are treated using Code Red.
The introduction of Code Red has not only saved lives, but also saved the NHS huge amounts of money. It’s estimated to have saved at least £6.6m a year, although the true figure is likely much higher.
"We have reduced deaths by nearly a half, which is an incredible achievement... This is because we introduced the Code Red protocol, improved the type and timing of blood products given to patients, undertook earlier diagnostics and introduced damage control resuscitation surgery. All of these are the results of trauma research.”Karim Brohi, Professor of Trauma Sciences at Queen Mary
Transform Trauma is a project we funded with £3m in 2021. It’s continuing to advance the way trauma patients with severe bleeding are treated. This includes:
In London, incidences and deaths from knife crime continue to be very high. Since 2015 there have been, on average, over 100 deaths per year involving knives or sharp instruments. We wanted to find ways to reduce violence in the capital.
We have funded several projects that have supported the NHS London Violence Reduction Programme. This is an initiative that started at Barts Health in 2015 – and uses a public health approach to reduce violence in the capital. These projects include:
This impact was made possible thanks to our incredible donors. Over the past few years six donors gave £652,000 towards trauma work taking place at The Royal London Hospital. We wanted to say a big thank you to:
Fiona Miller Smith, our Chief Executive, said: “The support of our donors has been instrumental in saving countless lives and advancing trauma research and treatment. And thanks to Critical, we’ll be able to see firsthand some of the inspiring and life-saving work which our donors have helped to fund.”
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