Surgeons at the sharp end: Knife crime in the West Midlands

Overview

Police data shows knife crime has more than doubled in West Midlands since 2012, with 700 victims in the region just last year. The number of crimes involving a knife or sharp instrument is on the rise, with over 60 stabbing offences in an average week. Knife wounds can be fatal or leave patients with chronic health problems. So, how can surgeons contribute to help prevent incidents of knife crime and reduce the harm caused by knife wounds? 

Programme

A panel of expert speakers will be delivering sessions on:

- management of knife wound injuries - including vascular, limb and penetrating injuries to the abdomen and chest;

- West Midlands' strategy to deal with knife crime;

- the role of the Royal College of Surgeons and the development of emergency trauma as a specialty;

- knife crime in Birmingham vs the London experience;

- working together to treat knife wound injuries.

Download the full programme for further details.

This event accredited by the RCS for up to 5.5 CPD points.

Who should attend?

This conference is open to all career grades and specialties. If you are interested in the management of patients with immediate life-threatening injuries and would like to know how you can support the region and the police to help reduce hospital admissions due to knife assaults, this is an event for you.

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If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with the events team at rcsevents@rcseng.ac.uk

Ashley Bertie

Ashley has worked at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner since 2014, and has played a huge part in transforming West Midlands Police’s Stop and Search policy. Ashley produced a schools workshop that explained and broke down barriers about Stop and Search for young people, as well as working directly with the force to drive down the number of people unnecessarily stopped yet improving the arrest rate.
The Nottingham University graduate, who became Assistant PCC from his role as a researcher, now plans to turn his attention to the force’s youth engagement policy, leading on a Gangs & Violence Commission and creating a police cadet scheme. This is all part of his passion for transparency, intelligence-led policing and fostering positive relations between the police and young people. In 2018, Ashley was appointed to be Deputy PCC.

Ewen Griffiths

Ewen Griffiths has been a Consultant Upper GI and General Surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham since 2012.   Whilst his main interest is oesophago-gastric surgery, he does emergency general surgical on-call for this Level 1 trauma centre.   He has had a strong interest in surgery for trauma ever since his medical student elective in Johannesburg in 1999.

David Jamieson

Elected in 2014 West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson, has taken a lead nationally on violent crime and exclusions from school which are feeding that violence. The Commissioner is committed to reducing the number of young people becoming involved in violent crime and was recently successful in getting £3.6 million to set up a Violence Reduction Unit. The Violence Reduction Unit, will focus on diverting young people away from crime and will provide them with positive alternatives. 

Colonel Paul Parker

Colonel Paul Parker will be explaining the management of severe trauma and penetrating limb injuries.

He qualified from Queens University Belfast in 1985. After training at Sandhurst and Regimental duty, he trained in Germany, London & Edinburgh. He undertook his Trauma Fellowship at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and became a Consultant Orthopaedic & Trauma Surgeon in 1998. He specialises in lower limb reconstruction surgery and works clinically at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. Over his 36 year military career he has deployed multiple times to Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, N Pakistan, Africa and the Middle East.

Dave Swannick

He has been a registered nurse for 8 years. He has worked in acute care for his entire career, starting in acute medicine. He moved to the Emergency Department where he became Clinical Educator and developed a new trauma course complying with NMTNG (National Major Trauma Nursing Group) level one standards. 
He then became a Resuscitation Officer and created emergency major haemorrhage packs for use within the hospital.
Currently, he is a Senior Charge Nurse in the Emergency Department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and he is the resuscitation and trauma lead nurse.

Alok Tiwari

Alok Tiwari is a consultant vascular surgeon and honorary senior clinical lecturer at University Hospitals Birmingham. He has been a consultant since 2011. He trained at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School qualifying in 1996. He has worked in the UK, Australia and Singapore. He is a fully trained vascular and endovascular surgeon with specialist interests in endovascular surgery and the management of the diabetic foot. He has more than 90 publications in all aspects of vascular and general surgery.