Table 3.
Treatment characteristics
| Injury Severity Score | |||||
| 0–9 | 10–16 | 17–25 | 26–75 | All | |
| Mode of arrival (%) | |||||
| Ambulance | 77.3 | 85.9 | 86.4 | 80.4 | 80.2 |
| Helicopter | 2.9 | 7.6 | 10.6 | 17.7 | 6.2 |
| Car | 15.9 | 4.9 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 10.6 |
| Walking | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.8 |
| Other | 2.9 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.3 |
| n | 19,713 | 5,625 | 3,875 | 3,559 | 32,772 |
| Time from emergency call to arrival at the A&E department (minutes)a | |||||
| Mean (standard deviation) | 59.6 (64.8) | 70.6 (94.8) | 100.9 (149.5) | 100.5 (136.3) | 70.7 (94.7) |
| n | 7,493 | 2,247 | 1,482 | 1,307 | 12,529 |
| Time in the A&E department (minutes) | |||||
| Mean (standard deviation) | 217.0 (144.7) | 195.9 (166.0) | 149.6 (170.4) | 120.5 (141.5) | 193.8 (155.4) |
| n | 14,262 | 4,154 | 3,020 | 2,827 | 24,263 |
| Grade of most senior doctor seen in the A&E department (%) | |||||
| Consultant | 9.2 | 18.0 | 24.1 | 32.4 | 14.9 |
| Middle grade | 35.0 | 49.3 | 57.6 | 56.4 | 42.3 |
| Senior house officer | 50.9 | 30.1 | 16.1 | 9.3 | 38.9 |
| n | 20,078 | 5,592 | 3,895 | 3,480 | 33,045 |
| Specialty of doctors seen in the A&E department (%)b | |||||
| Emergency medicine | 83.4 | 68.2 | 53.8 | 50.7 | 73.8 |
| Orthopaedics | 48.7 | 39.0 | 27.0 | 29.5 | 42.4 |
| Anaesthesia | 4.0 | 16.7 | 30.8 | 41.5 | 13.3 |
| Neurosurgery | 2.5 | 12.8 | 24.2 | 27.0 | 9.5 |
| General surgery | 3.9 | 12.5 | 16.6 | 21.9 | 8.8 |
| Other | 9.2 | 15.7 | 22.0 | 22.8 | 13.3 |
| n | 20,263 | 5,651 | 3,994 | 3,588 | 33,496 |
| Surgery (%)c | |||||
| Bone fixationd | 60.9 | 38.5 | 19.4 | 18.5 | 47.4 |
| Wound debridement | 5.6 | 8.4 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 6.0 |
| Intracranial procedurese | 0.2 | 5.3 | 18.2 | 23.6 | 5.8 |
| n | 21,280 | 6,075 | 4,375 | 3,834 | 35,564 |
| Admitted to critical care | |||||
| Percentage | 9.6 | 31.3 | 61.2 | 79.1 | 29.0 |
| n | 13,427 | 4,374 | 3,256 | 2,895 | 23,952 |
| Length of stay in critical care (days)f | |||||
| Median (interquartile range) | 2 (1 to 5) | 3 (2 to 7) | 4 (2 to 10) | 7 (3 to 15) | 4 (2 to 10) |
| n | 1,287 | 1,368 | 1,991 | 2,290 | 6,936 |
| Total length of stay (days)g | |||||
| Median (interquartile range) | 8 (5 to 14) | 10 (5 to 19) | 13 (6 to 26) | 17 (6 to 39) | 9 (5 to 19) |
| n | 13,427 | 4,374 | 3,256 | 2,895 | 23,952 |
| Hospital has a neurosurgical centre | |||||
| Percentage | 46.9 | 54.4 | 61.2 | 67.4 | 52.2 |
| n | 21,280 | 6,075 | 4,375 | 3,834 | 35,564 |
| Hospital has a spinal injuries unit | |||||
| Percentage | 6.2 | 5.3 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 5.5 |
| n | 21,280 | 6,075 | 4,375 | 3,834 | 35,564 |
aAmong those arriving by ambulance at the accident and emergency (A&E) department. bPatients could be seen by doctors from more than one specialty; hence the numbers sum to more than 100%. cBased on the 10 most common procedures. dIncluding open reduction and internal fixation, nail insertion, manipulation of bone, screw insertion, external fixation and K-wire insertion. eIncluding evacuation of extradural haematoma/subdural haematoma, intracranial pressure monitor and craniotomy. fFigures pertain only to those patients who were admitted to critical care. gIncluding length of stay in critical care; figures pertain both to those who were admitted to critical care and those who were not.