Island Life Magazine Ltd April/May 2011 | Page 109

fashion health & beauty

Island Life - April/May 2011

Trauma unit is a
big step forward
Dr Marie Lynch
By Peter White
The level of care available to Island
patients within the Emergency
Department of St Mary’s Hospital,
Newport has taken another significant
step forward.
The department, which currently deals
with some 45,000 admissions a year,
has recently been given status as a
trauma unit, and as such now stands
alongside the likes of Portsmouth and
Bournemouth in that particular area of
hospital care.
The Emergency Department was
officially designated as a trauma unit as
of April 2011, although the Emergency
Department’s dedicated team of
highly-trained professionals have been
working towards the achievement
for the past two years with the
development of a Trauma Team and 24
hour on site senior clinicians.
The advent of the Trauma Unit also
means a heli-pad will be in place on site
in the near future. Feasibility studies
have been taking place, and funding,
partly from a national charity and
partly from the trust, is currently being
discussed.
Maria Lynch is one of four consultants

in Emergency Medicine at the unit,
and is also Foundation Programme
Director for foundation trainees on
the Island. She explained: “We have
recently achieved trauma unit status,
and as such we are recognised for our
expertise in dealing with major trauma
incidents.
“Our status as a trauma unit means
we are being invested in, and the
standard of care which we deliver is
high. We went through quite a degree
of scrutiny to see that we met the
standards required. When a patient
comes in following a serious accident,
for example, a team from the unit,
including an emergency consultant,
anaesthetist, surgeon and nurses, will
be there awaiting their arrival.
“The trauma unit is something we
hav