Thread by @DrDomPimenta

The violence in London appalls and terrifies me. A thread by an #NHS Doctor (and #Tottenham resident and father) /Thread

1. I’m a hospital doctor. My wife is a surgeon. We see first hand the raw catastrophic damage this violence is wreaking on these children.

2. Major trauma, whether that’s gun/knife/car, is dealt with at amazing units like the Royal London. The surgery can be brutal: chests are split like clams, abdomens incised within minutes, even whole arteries clamped shut. Anything to stop the bleeding, to save a young life.

3. Often it isn’t enough. Sewing these children back up for their families to say goodbye is one of the hardest jobs any of my colleagues have to do.

4. And I stress the word children. Watch this devastating account from the lead trauma surgeon at the Royal London, Martin Griffiths, then come back here. I’ll wait. channel4.com/news/trauma-su…

5. The latest victims, 16 and 17, were also children. They were mown down less than a mile from my own front door. bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

6. As a doctor I find the worsening violence appalling, as a Tottenham resident deeply disturbing, and as a father terrifying. But misinformation and prejudiced debate won't help any of these victims.

7. This story last week hit headlines: the murder rate in London for the past few months actually rose above New York, a city of a similar size and population. uk.businessinsider.com/london-murder-…

8. New York: the city of the Godfather & the Sopranos, in a country of guns and gun violence, is doing better than London is. But mostly this isn't about a London crime spree, it's about New York's historic crime reduction.

9. New York actually saw an precipitous decline in homicides over the past twenty years, to half a century lows. They did this by massively boosting policing resources and focusing on community engagement. nytimes.com/2017/12/27/nyr…

10. London meanwhile was also enjoying a near historic low in the murder rate, until 2010. At the same time as the Met Police budget was cut. The Met is funded ~70-80% by the Home Office and general taxation, and the rest by City Hall and local taxation, mostly council tax.

11. Since 2010 the £3b budget has been cut by nearly a THIRD, resulting in a similar fall in police officer numbers to a historic low. This despite a continuing expanding population and continued threat of terrorism.

12. So while New York was headed in one direction, Theresa May’s Home Office sent London on in the opposite direction. fullfact.org/crime/happened…

13. Here are the results: a rise in the London murder rate with a corresponding fall in police officer numbers, and by extension, police resources.

14. For those blaming Sadiq Khan: he has already shouldered Met Police funding from 18 to 23% of the budget, through further London taxation.

15. For those blaming immigrants: a decade of immigration only saw the homicide rate fall, not rise, while the vast majority of the perpetrators are U.K. citizens.

16. The real culprits are the harder things to actually address: a lack of resources and poverty in our communities. Crime is closely linked to poverty in nearly every study ever performed on the subject. criminallawandjustice.co.uk/features/Link-…

17. I see the parallels with the NHS crisis and the outcomes are exactly the same: cut resources, a government blaming anything else, and innocent men and women and children dying. independent.co.uk/news/health/to…

18. These are children. "They never even got to live their lives." If we really want to help then something has to change.

19. If you feel inclined, you can donate to help reduce street violence here: benkinsella.org.uk/support/donate. Better yet you can vote until we get a government that actually cares about funding public services. Because until then this will only get worse.

20. I am begging you, as a doctor, a father, a Londoner, educate yourselves and take positive action. On every level, this HAS to stop. /END

Addendum: Twitterati to follow if you are interested:
Mr Martin Griffiths: @martinpgriff
Royal London Hospital: @RoyalLondonHosp
@traumagasdoc

Add to that @StGilesTrust , another cause worthy of donation if you wish.