Welcome to the Children's Major Trauma Centre

In May 2014 the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children was designated as the Children's Major Trauma Centre for the south west of England.  This means that the hospital has all the necessary specialities and teams in order to look after the most severely injured children. 

If a child under the age of 16 experiences a serious injury within the south west of England they will be taken as quickly and as safely as possibly to the Children's Major Trauma Centre in Bristol.  This may be by land ambulance or by air ambulance in a helicopter. 

There are approximately 810,000 children under the age of 16 living within the south west of England and the Major Trauma service treats approximately 200 patients a year with a range of injuries caused by a variety of mechanisms.

At the Children's Major Trauma Centre we have all the medical and surgical specialties required to treat the most severely injured child.  These include emergency care, theatres, intensive care and specialist rehabilitation.  We have two dedicated Major Trauma co-ordinators who will work with every speciality team to ensure that each severely injured child is receiving the best possible care and rehabilitation.  This provides a consistent and valuable link between the medical professionals, our patients and their families.

Why do we have Major Trauma Centres?

In 2012 NHS England launched Major Trauma Networks and Centres. Before the introduction of Major Trauma networks anyone who was injured was taken to their nearest hospital.  This has since been proven to not result in the best outcome for the patient.  Research has proven that bypassing the nearest hospital and travelling potentially further to a Major Trauma Centre results in improved survival rates.

For further information please visit NHS choices Major Trauma Centre. 

Meet The Team 

In addition to each child's lead Consultant they will have their care supported by the core Major Trauma team. 

The smooth running of the Major Trauma Centre requires a formal managerial and governance structure.  Each speciality within the Major Trauma Centre has a link clinician and is co-ordinated by the clinical lead. 

Core Major Trauma Team

Consultant Clinical Lead for the Major Trauma Centre:  Dr Giles Haythornthwaite

Consultant Rehabilitation Clinical Lead: Dr Peta Sharples

Consultant Network Lead: Dr Peter Davis

Lead Major Trauma Practitioner: Aimee White

Major Trauma Operational Coordinator: Amber Dingle

Major Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Nicky Robinson

Major Trauma Nurse Coordinator: Jessie Harvey

Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN)

We submit anonymised data to TARN which is a foundation that provides statistics and data which can be used by hospitals to develop and improve their services. 

To contact our TARN co-ordinators please use our generic email: PaediatricMajorTrauma@UHBristol.nhs.uk

We know that bringing your child to hospital can be a difficult time, especially when unexpected.  In addition to our Major Trauma co-ordinators all of our hospital staff will offer their help and support to make the journey as smooth as possible.  

Our Major Trauma Co-Ordinators Aimee White and Jenni Fryer can be contacted via email on PaediatricMajorTrauma@UHBristol.nhs.uk or leave a message on 0117 34 28488 and we aim to get back to you within 48 hours, if not sooner.

The hospital also provides generic  information for parents and visitors.

For Emergency Major Trauma patient referrals and advice  - 24 hours a day - please call the Trauma Team Leader on 0300 0300 789 - this phone number is not for use by the general public.

The Network Agreed Guidelines are in the process of being updated and will be published in due course.

Address:

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
Paul O'Gorman Building
Upper Maudlin Street
Bristol
BS2 8BJ

Email: PaediatricMajorTrauma@UHBristol.nhs.uk

Telephone: 

Trust switchboard - 0117 923 0000

Major Trauma Co-Ordinators - 0117 34 28488

For Pre Hospital Teams please call the Trauma Team Leader on 0117 34 20906.  This telephone number is NOT for the general public.

For clinicians referring patients from the region please call 0300 0300 789.  This telephone number is NOT for the general public.