TRAUMA centres have saved the lives of an extra 1600 casualties with the most serious injuries since they were established in England six years ago, according to new research.

A report in the Lancet today said NHS England's 27 major trauma centres (MTCs), operational since April 2012, have been vital in saving the lives of victims of knife, gun and acid attacks as well as those caught up in the most serious traffic crashes.

The findings have emerged after plans for Scotland to launch its own specialist trauma network has been plagued by delays.

The Scottish Government originally said in 2014 that four MTCs in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow would be operational from 2016, saving an estimated 40 extra lives per year.

However, the timeline was derailed after a review suggested the MTCs might be best concentrated in the Central Belt, leading to fears over a lack of cover in the north of Scotland.

In the end a four-site model was given the go-ahead along with a £5 million funding boost in 2017 to speed up their roll-out.

The first centre, in Aberdeen, is expected to launch in October this year, with the rest of the network live by 2020.

The Lancet report, compiled by the Trauma Audit and Research Network (TARN) based at the University of Manchester, analysed 10,000 patients admitted to 35 hospitals in England between 2008 and 2017.

It found that the odds of surviving severe injury were up by around a fifth since 2012.

Timothy Coats, a professor of emergency medicine, said: "These findings demonstrate and support the importance of major trauma networks to urgent care with figures showing there were 90 more survivors in 2013 rising to an additional 595 in 2017.

"Over the course of the five years 1,656 people have survived major trauma injuries where before they would probably have died."