Mortality and morbidity from trauma continues to be a serious, ubiquitous public health problem. Our short communication reports on the benefits of a dedicated lower limb trauma coordinator (LLTC) to the trauma service of a busy inner-London Plastics unit. This is based on a retrospective case-note based audit; performed 19 months prior to the introduction of the LLTC and for 16 months after. After the introduction of a LLTC our statistical analysis demonstrated a significant improvement in trauma timings in terms of injury to referral time, time to first plastics operation and duration of inpatient stay. This suggests the use of a fully qualified nurse with an orthopaedic background as a coordinator may prove to be highly advantageous over a non-clinical administrator improving the overall journey of the lower limb trauma patient in the English National Health Service.
Mendis,D. and Vesely,M. (2011). Improvements in the Management of Trauma Patients With the Introduction of a Lower Limb Trauma Coordinator. Trauma Monthly, 16(4), 201-202. doi: 10.5812/kowsar.22517464.3424
MLA
Mendis,D. , and Vesely,M. . "Improvements in the Management of Trauma Patients With the Introduction of a Lower Limb Trauma Coordinator", Trauma Monthly, 16, 4, 2011, 201-202. doi: 10.5812/kowsar.22517464.3424
HARVARD
Mendis D., Vesely M. (2011). 'Improvements in the Management of Trauma Patients With the Introduction of a Lower Limb Trauma Coordinator', Trauma Monthly, 16(4), pp. 201-202. doi: 10.5812/kowsar.22517464.3424
CHICAGO
D. Mendis and M. Vesely, "Improvements in the Management of Trauma Patients With the Introduction of a Lower Limb Trauma Coordinator," Trauma Monthly, 16 4 (2011): 201-202, doi: 10.5812/kowsar.22517464.3424
VANCOUVER
Mendis D., Vesely M. Improvements in the Management of Trauma Patients With the Introduction of a Lower Limb Trauma Coordinator. Trauma Mon, 2011; 16(4): 201-202. doi: 10.5812/kowsar.22517464.3424
