Fellowship having an impact

In the three years that the Zaparas Fellowship has been in place at The Alfred, the impact on clinical outcomes has been noticeable.

Deputy Director of Trauma Services, Associate Professor Joseph Mathew, said the Trauma Fellow was “an absolutely vital role”.

“The Fellow runs the department. They are the nerve centre,” he said. “It is difficult to quantify, but it makes a huge difference to clinical outcomes. Philanthropists invest a lot in research, but it takes quite a few years to see the results. But a role like the Fellow has an immediate impact.”

A/Prof. Mathew said The Alfred was the largest trauma centre in Australasia judged by the number of severely injured patients in the total admissions.

“When you calculate 9000 admissions a year, the Fellow has an impact on every aspect of clinical care,” he said. “Investing in clinical care has an immediate impact and, by extension, across Victoria.”

Dr Guy Sheahan, who has been in the role since February 2021, said it had been a tremendous experience, both personally and also for the ongoing development of the hospital and its trauma department.

“I had wanted to gain more experience in a larger centre, so the opportunity to work here was certainly one that appealed to me,” he said. “It meant I was able to broaden the breadth of skills in trauma care, but also in education and research, so being involved with some experienced and committed research clinicians is something I was looking forward to.”

Dr Sheahan was looking at how to improve the journey of a patient with a traumatic injury: from their initial transfer from a regional hospital, or initial reception, stabilisation and definitive procedural intervention, through to their recovery and discharge.

“The average length of stay for our patients is six days, but some multi-injured patients may stay weeks to months,” he said. “So we are looking at how to improve the care of these patients through this extended period, so we don’t lose focus on the issues that are preventing them from moving to the next stage of recuperation.

In terms of research, Dr Sheahan said they had been looking at a technique of trying to control severe bleeding by inflating a balloon inside the aorta.

This technique was trialled about 10 years ago at The Alfred, but the literature and technology has improved since then, and become much safer.

Working alongside A/Prof. Mathew and Trauma Services Director Professor Mark Fitzgerald, Dr Sheahan said that looking at the trauma caseload, there was a strong need for this device, but it was important to ensure that it was introduced safely and effectively.

The fellowship was funded with $550,000 over three years through philanthropic support from The Zaparas Group and The Alfred Foundation.