| Summary: | Background: Trauma care in England is below the standards of service provision
when compared to many other developed countries. In recent years there has been
an impetus for improvements in trauma care and as a result, Trauma Systems are
beginning to roll out across England to meet the complex needs of trauma patients
and bring the quality of service provision into line with international comparators.
Aim: This review aims to explore the extent to which, new and evolving Trauma
Systems in England, can learn and implement ideas from their mature and
established counterparts overseas to deliver high quality trauma care to severely
injured patients.
Methods: A critical review of the literature has been undertaken and an analytical
framework has been developed to explore and assess the components of an
effective Trauma System.
Findings: After reviewing the literature on Trauma Systems focussing on topics of
patient outcomes, business case and nursing, it was found that systematic
improvements in trauma care occur over time with improvements in system
organisation and structure. Further improvements in Trauma Systems can come
from comprehensive treatment of all triage positive patients within the Trauma
System, additional data collection addressing trauma morbidities and patient
quality of life, service and system evaluation to identify and address inadequacies,
rehabilitation improvements and long term patient follow up, trauma prevention
strategies and facilitation of nurse empowerment and professional development.
Conclusion: The 2012 Framework for Trauma Systems has been developed and
used as an analytical tool to identify the components of an effective Trauma
System. It should be adopted when implementing and assessing effective trauma
systems to ensure that all patient and system needs are addressed. A critical
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review of the literature has been conducted and recommendations for effective
trauma system implementation in England have been made.
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