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Martin Griffiths appointed first NHS clinical director for violence reduction

June 20, 2019

Mr Martin Griffiths, a consultant trauma surgeon at the Royal London hospital major trauma centre, and C4TS trauma Msc faculty member, has been appointed the NHS’s first clinical director for violence reduction.

Martin has spent over 15 years as an influential advocate for violence control, including visiting schools to warn pupils of the dangers of knife and gun crime.  He established the innovative Barts Health violence reduction programme, a UK first, which enlists case workers to engage with young patients injured through gang crime while they’re still being treated in hospital to help break the cycle of violence at the point of crisis.  Martin’s enormous public contribution to violence reduction was most recently recognised when he won the NHS Hero Doctor award in 2018.

In an interview with the London Evening Standard, Martin said “Every day I see the wasted opportunities of young people stuck on hospital wards with life-changing injuries.

“We do everything we can for these patients but don’t just want to patch them up and send them back out to be injured again. By working across the NHS there is more we can do to prevent these attacks happening in the first place.

 “I want to build a network that will empower communities across London to challenge the attitudes and behaviours that result in violence.” 

Martin’s appointment is part of a broader approach to violence minimisiation required across London. Along with other C4TS clinicians, Martin co-authored the London Major Trauma System’s policy on tackling knife violence, which calls for a public health approach to violence reduction.  The policy can be found here.

Martin will take up his new appointment on a part-time basis to enable him to retain his work at the Royal London Hospital and continue to provide invaluable input into C4TS education programmes.

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