Queen's Medical Centre takes trauma patients from region

Seriously injured patients from across the East Midlands will now be treated at a Nottingham hospital.

The major trauma centre at the Queen's Medical Centre will begin to take patients from the rest of the region from Monday.

Major trauma patients are those who are most likely to die, such as people with serious gun and knife wounds or multiple injuries from car crashes.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said more lives would be saved.

Adam Brooks, consultant surgeon and clinical lead for trauma at the trust, said: "We will become a leading-edge major trauma service providing excellent care to patients who suffer serious injury and give them the very best chances of survival and recovery."

Phased change

East Midlands Ambulance Service crews will be trained to bring the most seriously injured patients to Nottingham rather than to their local emergency department.

At the moment, about 300 major trauma patients are treated in Nottingham each year.

This is likely to increase to about 500 over the next 12 months, with patients initially being taken from Sherwood Forest Hospitals, and then Chesterfield and Derby.

Patients from Lincolnshire will come in the second year, followed by Leicestershire.

This means the number of major trauma patients treated in Nottingham is expected rise to 900 by 2015.

They will have 24/7 access to specialist teams of clinicians, intensive care and brain surgery.