31 Jan 2020
We were delighted to welcome Edward Argar, Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, up to the helipad last week to give him an insight into our life-saving service.
The Minister saw first-hand how our crew work together to deliver the world’s most advanced trauma care to London’s most critically ill trauma patients. He met with our Chief Executive, Jonathan Jenkins, and new Medical Director, Tom Hurst, who showed him the aircraft; the kit on board and talked through the different sorts of missions our teams attend on a daily basis.
We are proud to work alongside Barts NHS Health Trust and the London Ambulance Service (LAS) to deliver life-saving treatment to the 10 million people who live and work in London. Jackie Sullivan, Chief Executive of the Royal London Hospital, also spoke with the Minister alongside Malik Ramadhan, Director of Emergency and Trauma Care at the Royal London, discussing how our partnership allows us to work together to push the boundaries of pre-hospital care.
During the visit members of our operational crew demonstrated one of the roadside interventions our team undertake - a pre-hospital thoracotomy. Consultant Ali Sanders, Doctor Emma Stockton and Paramedic Jason Morris conducted the thoracotomy using a mannequin, showing how they would stop a patient’s bleeding and restart their heart, potentially saving the patient’s life.
This is just one example of the many cases our crew attend, illustrating how our advanced trauma medics can make all the difference to a patient who could have died if they didn’t get the procedure and had had to wait until they arrived at hospital.
The Minister also had chance to hear from the Clinical Lead and Clinical Manager of the Physician Response Unit (PRU), Tony Joy and Bill Leaning. They relayed to him how the PRU, a part of our service which travels by car to patients in London who have called 999 but can be seen in their home, is saving NHS resources by taking the Emergency Department to the patient. You can read more about this here.
Edward Argar praised the team for their ‘amazing work’, describing our charity as a ‘life-saving service that means so much’.
He was then shown down to A&E to tour the Department and meet with hospital staff, showcasing the major trauma pathway of care for a critically injured person in London.
Edward Argar reflected on his visit in a video posted on Twitter here.
