Presented by Robert Clark MP		www.robertclark.net

Three hospitals to become trauma centres

Major Trauma Services will be established at three key Melbourne hospitals as part of a system to further reduce road deaths.

The Review of Trauma & Emergency Services 1999 report by the Ministerial Taskforce on Trauma and Emergency Services recommends a tiered structure of hospitals, to provide differing levels of treatment for trauma patients.

At the top of the structure would be the three Major Trauma Services where the most severely injured patients would be taken.

These will be at the Alfred, the Royal Children's and the Royal Melbourne Hospitals.

Victoria’s other emergency hospitals will continue to play a vital role in the system through skilled resuscitation in major trauma cases, ongoing treatment in less severe injuries, and education activities.

Trauma experts would continue to be available in the emergency departments of these hospitals, but the most severe cases would be taken immediately to the centres with the most expertise in handling complex trauma care.

About 1600 patients per year out of the 51,000 people who are taken to hospital emergency departments with injuries and trauma would be classified as major trauma patients, and therefore likely to need the Major Trauma Services.

The report and its recommendations are being distributed to industry bodies such as ambulance services, and medical, nursing and surgical specialists for comment over the next six weeks.

The report recommends a trauma system structure, protocols for ambulances in the pre-hospital setting, a system for the retrieval and transfer of severely injured patients, and other care improvements.

The changes involve a change of protocol whereby an injured patient is taken to the most appropriate trauma hospital depending on the severity of injury and urgency of immediate treatment, rather than the current practice of automatically going to the nearest hospital with an emergency department.

The report recommends that where major trauma cases cannot be taken directly from the accident scene to a Major Trauma Service, patients should be transported to another emergency hospital for immediate resuscitation and stabilisation prior to transfer.

The Major Trauma Services would also work together to provide education, quality improvement and research programs to assist other metropolitan and rural hospitals.

Studies, including Victoria's Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities last year, have concluded that it is possible in 30 to 40% of cases to prevent deaths following injury.

The Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mr Rob Knowles, said key recommendations from the Taskforce could be phased in as early as next year.

Copies of the report are available on-line.

(News Release, Office of the Minister for Health and Aged Care, April 9, 1999)