Pioneering Trauma Training to be delivered from Scarborough Hospital

Please note: The injury on the above image is not real. 

This week, 60 candidates from across the region will undergo instructor training to enable them to deliver specialist trauma life support courses across Yorkshire as a pioneering training course is delivered from Scarborough Hospital.  This new approach to training will help save the lives of patients suffering from major trauma.

Last year, the North Yorkshire and Humberside Major Trauma Network launched a Trauma Intermediate Life Support (TILS) Instructor Training course with the aim of supporting Trusts to train staff to deliver trauma care training within their organisations.

The training was the first of its kind in the region and it has now become a level 1 trauma qualification for Nurses, Doctors, Paramedics and other hospital staff across the country as detailed in the National Standards for Trauma Education introduced last month.

The new National Standards state that members of the hospital trauma team must have as a minimum, the competencies contained within the TILS course in order to effectively care for patients with major trauma

So far, 120 staff across the network, including 29 from York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, have undergone the training.  Following the introduction of the National Standards, the 60 new instructors trained this week in Scarborough will support the training of trauma team members in every acute hospital in Yorkshire and Humberside.

Dr Phil Dickinson, a Scarborough Hospital Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, is Network Lead Clinician for North Yorkshire and Humberside Major Trauma Network and along with the team from the Major Trauma Network has been at the forefront of bringing this pioneering initiative to the region.

Phil said: “We’re excited to be hosting three days of TILS Instructor Training Courses at Scarborough Hospital and to be welcoming to Scarborough staff from all 14 acute hospital trusts across Yorkshire and the Humber in addition to staff from Yorkshire Ambulance Service to become qualified TILS Course Instructors. Our aim is that within two years 90 percent of our trauma teams in the region will be trained.

“Major trauma is the leading cause of death for children and adults under 40 years of age in the UK. Over a number of years the level of care in England for these patients has been shown to be in need of improvement. The National Audit Office report estimated that there are 20,000 cases of major trauma per year in England and 5,400 people die of their injuries with many others sustaining permanent disability.   Many of these deaths could be, and now are being, prevented with systematic improvements to the delivery of major trauma care.”

Maureen Issott, Service Development Lead for Major Trauma and Regional coordinator for the TILS Instructor Course, said “We are really pleased with how TILS has rapidly developed in this region. After running initial instructor training in September 2015 we have now trained 120 staff across the North Yorkshire and Humberside Major Trauma Network. We are now taking this training to the next level by initiating the roll out across the whole of Yorkshire and the Humber encompassing all acute and Ambulance NHS Trusts."

26 May 2016