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Abstract
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What programmes are being implemented in the NHS to address and reduce violence levels in young patients?
I'm a consultant trauma and vascular surgeon working at Barts Health in a busy, urban major trauma centre in the East End of London. Over a third of what we treat is life-threatening knife and gun injuries, predominately affecting individuals aged under 25 years. Those tragedies force me to confront the reality of interpersonal injury when routinely treating children stabbed by other children, discharging them home only to readmit them with another and invariably more serious wound.
I refused to accept endemic violence or lament the revolving door of "these boys" and led the development of a violence reduction programme at the Royal London Hospital, which not only reduced readmission but (more importantly) had a positive influence on attainment and employability for our patients, and changed our clinical culture, forming a trauma-informed workplace. This success led to expansion and coordination across London, and I was encouraged to take up a systems leadership role as the clinical director of the NHS London violence reduction programme. Something must have gone well as I was appointed the first national clinical director for violence reduction in NHS England in 2020.
My work comprises a portfolio of roles anchored by my clinical practice in trauma surgery and training. I co-lead the violence reduction team in NHS London as well as overseeing the national programme. I set the agenda and boundaries of the programme. Our work is complex and varied, and requires a deep appreciation of multiple data and intelligence streams around injury, deprivation, social care and policing. We construct and disseminate novel practices that are effective in reducing violence while celebrating and expanding practices that work, and curtailing those that do not. I also design and refine policy for local and national government as well as being an advocate for prevention and collaboration between agencies.
Language: en |