Summary

In Scotland, accidents and major trauma are a leading cause of death in those under 75. Each year, Scotland deals with approximately 8,700 cases of severe traumatic injury. With an ageing population, severe injuries are increasingly becoming a major health burden among older adults. This Special Seminar will welcome members of the Scottish Trauma Network (STN) and Scottish Trauma Audit Group (STAG) to share how they work collaboratively to improve trauma services in Scotland.

The network is managed by National Services Directorate, a subset of NHS National Services Scotland. It strives to provide positive outcomes for those who experience severe traumatic injury. This is achieved using national pathways to reduce variation, a highly educated workforce, a culture of continuous improvement and high quality, easily accessible data to inform that culture. The network provides a common approach to trauma care across Scotland. From expert pre-hospital care and rapid transfer to the most appropriate facility able to manage severe traumatic injuries, the patient will receive treatment to provide them with the best possible outcome.  

A critical partner to the STN is STAG, one of Public Health Scotland’s national audits. STAG holds a vast amount of data on patients with severe injury in Scotland which can be used for research, quality improvement, service design and injury prevention purposes. The presentation will include background to STAG, its aims and objectives, data collected and methodology used.

Biographies

Tim Hooper is the National Clinical Lead for the Scottish Trauma Network and a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine at Raigmore Hospital, NHS Highland. He has gained extensive trauma management experience in both civilian and military settings including a fellowship at the Shock Trauma Centre in Baltimore and multiple overseas operational tours. Prior to taking on the National Clinical Lead role in 2023, he was the clinical lead for the North of Scotland Trauma Network.

Tim qualified from Guy’s and St Thomas’s in 2000 and became an anaesthetic and critical care consultant in the major trauma centre in Bristol in 2012. This was initially as an honorary military consultant, but on retiring from the Army in 2018 he became a permanent NHS consultant. Before relocating to the Highlands in 2021 he was the quality governance lead for the Severn Major Trauma Network and the hospital transfusion service, being instrumental in implementing prehospital blood on the local air ambulance. 

Although no longer clinically active in prehospital care, previous posts have included London and Great Western Air Ambulances and adult critical care retrieval, giving him first-hand experience of much of the trauma patient pathway.

Angela Khan is the National Clinical Coordinator for the Scottish Trauma Audit Group (STAG). Angela qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1992 and worked in various clinical settings including Accident and Emergency, Coronary Care and ITU. In 2007, pursuing an interest in quality improvement, she became the National Clinical Coordinator for the Scottish Intensive Care Society Audit Group. Her interest in Emergency Medicine and Trauma led her to move to STAG in early 2016.     

Kirstin Thomson is the Programme Manager for the Scottish Trauma Network (STN). Kirstin achieved a BSc (Hons) in Anatomy from the University of Glasgow in 2008, followed by an MSc Marketing from the University of Strathclyde. Initially working in public relations, she moved to work with NHS Lothian in 2012 as part of its busy Communications Team. In 2014 she joined NHS National Services Scotland as a Communications Manager, spending a significant proportion of this role with the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service. In 2022 she secured the Programme Manager role with National Services Directorate, working with Care of Burns in Scotland and the Scottish Acquired Brain Injury Network, before joining the STN.