The NHS in England saved another 1,600 patients with serious injuries since a series of large trauma centers was established six years ago.
The 27 designated large trauma centers have been operating since April 2012 and play a vital role in saving the victims of knife, firearm and acid attacks.
They see severely injured patients directly to the designated large trauma centers, circumventing smaller, local hospitals offering less specialist care.
An independent report, which features in the latest issue of EClinical Medicine, published by The Lancet, shows that patients also spent fewer days in the hospital and improved their quality of life after receiving critical care.
The analysis of more than 110,000 patients admitted to 35 hospitals between 2008 and 2017 shows an increase of nearly a fifth in the chances of survival of serious injuries in the five years from 2012.
Researchers calculated that there were 595 extra su rvivors in 2017 – five years after the start of the new system – so they are ahead of the target for the final 450 to 600 additional survivors who predicted NHS England when the reorganization was announced, because it takes five to ten years before a trauma system occurs "Mature" and reach its full potential.
The report was compiled by the Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN), based at the University of Manchester and supported by experts from the universities of Leicester and Sheffield.
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Timothy Coats, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Leicester and consultant in emergency medicine at Leicester's hospitals, described the new system as a "fantastic achievement."
He said: "These findings demonstrate and support the importance of large trauma networks for emergency care with figures that show that in 2013 there were still 90 survivors who increased to an extra 595 in 2017.
" In the course of the five years 1.656 people have survived major trauma injuries where they would probably have died earlier.
"It also shows that with changes in the way patients are treated from the moment that doctors and paramedics reach them, with intubation in front of the hospital, improved treatment for major bleeding and progress in techniques for emergency surgery, there is also a significant reduction from 31% to 24% in the number of patients needing critical care, and their duration of stay in intensive care units reduced on average from four to three days. "
Trauma remains the most common cause of death among individuals under 40 in England, where survivors are often handicapped for a long time.
The National Audit Office (NAO) estimates that there are 20,000 serious trauma cases per year, with 5,400 deaths.
NHS England's medical director for acute care, Professor Keith Willett, who led the changes in 2012 and now oversees the broader NHS emergency and emergency response, said: "We have made significant progress over the past five years made in emergency care, as this study shows. "
"While the NHS is developing its 10-year plan, the success of major trauma centers will help inform how we provide better care for patients through the use of specialized clinical networks."
Professor Chris Moran, NHS England & # 39; s national clinical director for trauma care, said: "This study shows that changes in trauma care, designed by physicians, save hundreds of lives each year.
" Patients who are severely injured must come to the appropriate specialized center that is staffed by experts, not just the nearest hospital.
"Thanks to the skills of NHS employees, we are confident that we will continue to see further increases in survival rates for this group of patients.
" Large trauma centers are dealing with the victims of stabbings and collisions of acid as well car and motorcycle accidents.
"We have all seen the terrible increase in crime in our cities, especially in London, and there is no doubt that the new trauma system has saved many lives because these patients receive much faster blood transfusion and specialist surgery than before. [19659002] "The whole system, from pre-hospital care to recovery and rehabilitation, has improved. "
In 2010, the NAO recommended that a network of trauma centers should be set up in a devastating report that describes how traffic accidents, random samples and shooting accidents" are unacceptable "variations in care depending on the hospital they were taken to.
It suggested that between 450 and 600 lives per year could be saved by improving the management of trauma cases.
