Work on trauma network underway

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Catherine Calderwood is to chair an implementation group which will work with health boards to roll out a bespoke trauma network for Scotland.

Health Secretary Shona Robison welcomed the appointment of Dr Calderwood as chair of the new National Trauma Network Implementation Group which will ensure Scotland’s trauma network is suited to the country’s needs and geography.

This will help deliver four major trauma centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, as well as wider trauma support across Scotland.

Ms Robison said:

“Scotland’s trauma network will save lives, deliver improved outcomes for severely injured patients and fully support them to return to normal life.

“It will involve hospitals across Scotland, including the four trauma centres we have committed to in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, and Edinburgh - working together to ensure that people are treated in the right place as quickly as possible.

“It is therefore extremely important that we plan our trauma network thoroughly – to make sure we get it right.

“The new National Trauma Network Implementation Group, chaired by the Chief Medical Officer, will take this work forward.

“I expect health boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service to work together with the Group to co-produce and deliver a unique Scottish solution that will deliver the improvements we all wish to see.

“This implementation group will ensure that we have the necessary preparation work for the four major trauma centres, and the trauma network, completed by the end of the year.

Dr Calderwood said:

“We need to design and deliver a trauma network within the context of the National Clinical Strategy – a network that is resourced appropriately, fit for purpose and which will ensure people receive excellent care quickly, in the most appropriate setting.”