The major trauma service at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has launched its first fully equipped critical care vehicle. 

It is the first NHS hospital in England and Wales to have a rapid response vehicle, which enables its doctors to provide pre-hospital critical care responses for the first time. 

The car is expected to make at least 50 call-outs every year. 

The car has been made possible through £50,000 funding from the HELP Appeal – the only charity in the country that funds NHS hospital helipads – and £60,000 from the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity, which provides resources for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust that go beyond what the NHS alone can provide.

It is a fully-marked blue light response vehicle that is being used by doctors 19 hours a day to attend major trauma patients across Cornwall, who may have suffered severe injuries from incidents or accidents, such as falling from height or a car collision. 

When patients suffer life-threatening or life-changing injuries, they should be taken directly to a major trauma centre such as Derriford Hospital in Plymouth or to the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. However, before the critical care car became operational, some patients would have had to come to RCHT to be stabilised first, which could take several hours, and only then a further transfer to the major trauma centre was arranged. 

Thanks to the new service, RCHT doctors are working with the Cornwall Air Ambulance critical care paramedics, delivering anaesthesia on scene, establishing patients on a ventilator and taking them direct to a major trauma centre, providing critical care en route. 

“We are continually making provisions to improve the care of our major trauma patients,” said Dr Dan Bawden, consultant at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. 

“As part of this, the major trauma and transfer consultant role was created in May 2019, which works to provide a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week rota to assist in major trauma reception, resuscitation, and transfer care. 

“The launch of this new car enables a major trauma consultant with advanced resuscitation drugs and equipment to be at the scene of the accident. Here they are able to support colleagues from South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWAST) and Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust (CAAT) to deliver the very highest standards of trauma care.” 

Dr Bawden added: “With the car fully equipped, our consultants will be able to drive direct to the scene, either from the hospital, or when on call at home, and start treatment immediately. 

“As consultants trained in the delivery of pre-hospital critical care we will not only bring a wide variety of surgical, anaesthetic and pain-relieving interventions to patients, but also a detailed knowledge of the anticipated in hospital treatment course for such patients. This ensures that the patients get to the best hospital for their injuries direct from the scene. 

“They are also escorting patients direct to either the Royal Cornwall Hospital’s emergency department, or to the adult major trauma centre in Plymouth or the paediatric major trauma centre in Bristol. 

“Many communities in Cornwall are very remote, so when incidents do occur, it’s vital that we’re able to get to the patient as quickly as possible and provide treatment from the point of injury. 

“The car is great for this, as it will improve not only the immediate care of the patient, but also dramatically decrease the time taken to get the patient to the major trauma centre and provide the potentially vital care they need. It will also allow us to work more collaboratively alongside the teams from SWAST and CAAT, which already do a fantastic job supporting our patients, hospitals and communities.” 

It is the first time the HELP Appeal has funded a hospital critical care car.

Robert Bertram, chief executive of the HELP Appeal, said: “We have funded 45 helipads across the whole country, including the South West, and our charity will continue to do anything that it possibly can to help save lives.   

“We are proud to support the outstanding skills of trauma consultants and doctors by helping to enable this brand-new initiative with a donation of £50,000. We wish them great success and hope that this may be the first of many around the country where the need arises.” 

Sarah Newton, chair of Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity added: “It is thanks to the great generosity of our local community that Royal Cornwall Hospitals Charity have been able to fully equip the response car. 

“The provision of equipment, such as a defibrillator, ventilator and protective clothing for the teams, has been provided through funding of just over £60,000 from our charity. The response car will be a fantastic addition to services in the county. We are so pleased to be able to support such an exciting and worthwhile advancement.”