The hospital in Sadiq Khan’s London which U.S. President Donald Trump described as a “war zone” following a wave of deadly knife attacks has issued a statement responding to the controversy.
“Knife violence is a serious issue for London,” admitted Professor Karim Brohi, trauma surgeon at The Royal London Hospital and Director of London’s major trauma system.
“We are proud of the excellent trauma care we provide and of our violence reduction programmes,” he added.
“The Royal London Hospital has cut the number of our young patients returning after further knife attacks from 45 per cent to 1 per cent.”
President Trump Highlights Deadly Knife Crime Epidemic in Khan’s London: ‘It’s Like a War Zone’ https://t.co/nuwlP1HVK1
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 5, 2018
However, the government employee took the slightly unusual step of following up his admission with a critique of President Trump’s strong stance in favour of gun rights for law-abiding citizens, writing: “There is more we can all do to combat this violence, but to suggest guns are part of the solution is ridiculous.”
He added: “Gunshot wounds are at least twice as lethal as knife injuries and more difficult to repair. We are proud of our world-leading service and to serve the people of London.”
It should be noted that President Trump did not suggest the criminals responsible for knife crime should be equipped with guns instead, but that the right of regular citizens to armed self-defence through the Second Amendment should be upheld.
It should also be noted that gun crime has been increasing in London despite a near-total ban on the legal ownership of handguns, rising by 42 per cent from 2015/16 to 2016/17.
Khan’s London: Lead Surgeon Says Hospital Like Afghan War Zone, Two More Killed Overnight https://t.co/glUWVQtdTF
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 5, 2018
President Trump made his comments on the London knife crime epidemic after Dr Mark Griffths, a lead trauma surgeon at Professor Brohi’s hospital, said that “military colleagues have described their practice here as similar to being at [Camp] Bastion” in Afghanistan.
“We used to look after people in their twenties. Now people are often in their mid to late teens and children in school uniforms are being admitted under our care with knife and gun wounds,” he added.
In later comments, Dr Griffths said that the situation was now “looking more like South Africa” than Great Britain, with the treatment of children and teenagers with life-threatening injuries having become “the bread and butter” of his practice.
Govt Stats: UK Knife Crime Highest on Record https://t.co/xi0m62VwJr
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 27, 2018
“Every day an ambulance rolls up with a kid who has been stabbed. That can’t be right. We’re not at war,” the surgeon added.
“You’re sitting there in a [resuscitation] bay at 7.30 p.m. on a Thursday evening. It’s not even dark but you’ve got four children in your bays and you’re thinking to yourself — this is not what I trained for,” he said.
“I’m a trauma surgeon, not a paediatric surgeon. We’re having to use the skillset that we use to look after adult trauma injuries for kids. That was never part of the deal. But we look after children now — that’s what we do. Welcome to the new normal.”
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