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Trauma services requirements in a district general hospital serving a rural area
Objective:
To assess the demands made on a regional trauma centre by a district trauma unit.
Design:
Two part study. (1) Prospective analysis of one month's workload. (2) Retrospective analysis of one year's workload by using a computer based records system. Comparison of two sets of results.
Setting:
Accident unit in Gwynedd Hospital, Bangor.
Patients:
(1) All patients who attended the accident unit in August 1988. (2) All patients who attended the accident unit in the calendar year April 1988-April 1989.
Main Outcome Measure:
Workload of a district trauma unit.
Results:
In August 1988 there were 2325 attendances; 2302 of these were analysed. In all, 1904 attendances were for trauma; 213 patients were admitted to the trauma ward and 103 required an operation that entailed incision. Patients who attended the unit had a mean (range) injury severity score of 2-13 (0-25). Only two patients had injuries that a district general hospital would not be expected to cope with (injury severity score greater than 20). In the year April 1988-April 1989, 21,007 patients attended the unit. In all, 17,958 attendances were for orthopaedic injuries or injuries caused by an accident; 1966 patients were admitted to the unit.
Conclusions:
Most trauma is musculoskeletal and relatively minor according to the injury severity score. All but a few injuries can be managed in district general hospitals. In their recent report the Royal College of Surgeons has overestimated the requirements that a British district general hospital would have of a regional trauma centre.