Lister emergency department gains accreditation as designated trauma centre

Issued by East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

Following rigorous assessment by the East of England Trauma Network, the Lister’s emergency department has been awarded level two trauma unit status – the second highest standing available nationally.

Following a national review of emergency services published by the National Confidential Enquiry in to Patient Outcome and Deaths (NCEPOD) in 2007, the East of England Trauma Network is in the final stages of its accreditation of all main emergency departments across the region. On 15 January 2013, the Trust was informed that the Lister’s emergency department had been successful in its application to become a level two trauma unit – just one level below the sort of service seen at specialist teaching hospitals.

Trauma units treat those people who have had serious accidents and/or injuries, often whose lives are in real danger. Level two trauma units have access to a wide range of surgical services and intensive care back up, as well as the ability to stabilise patients for transfer to level one trauma units where other highly specialised interventions are available serving a whole region.

Although much of the accreditation process featured on the unit’s processes and procedures, there have been real benefits for patients, including:

• The development and standardisation of a designated trauma team that is available 24/7;
• Through the introduction of a second CT scanner at the Lister, patients requiring an emergency scan can now have it performed within the time standards set nationally;
• Streamlining the rapid transfer process, when required, between the Lister hospital and Addenbrookes – now the region’s major trauma centre.

Dr Pawan Gupta, an emergency department consultant and Trust’s trauma lead, said: “Being designated a level two trauma unit is a great achievement for our team and positions our service well within the East of England Trauma Network. It means that our services and standards have achieved a very high level, which is good news for the patients in our care – the numbers of which are rising. In 2011, the team treated some 230 patients with life and/or limb threatening injuries; this rose to around 300 in the past 12 months.”

The designation of the Lister as a level two trauma centre comes as work continues on building the hospital’s new £19.3 million emergency department. Once ready in the Autumn of 2014, the new facility will have specialist emergency and urgent care services for both adults and children.

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