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Shared adult and paediatric expertise in adolescent trauma
- Ms Maryam Alfa-WaliConsultant Colorectal and Trauma Surgeon
Key points
- Adolescents with major trauma may be best cared for in a joint care setting that draws on both adult and paediatric expertise.
- Adult teams bring experience of the numbers and volume of injuries such as stabbings, shootings and road traffic collisions.
- Paediatric expertise helps with safeguarding, teenage requirements such as Wi-Fi and TikTok, and play therapy for those younger than their age group.
Ms Maryam Alfa-Wali, Consultant Colorectal and Trauma Surgeon, provides insights into the care of adolescents with major trauma and the debate about adult and paediatric settings. She discusses the value of bringing expertise from both services together, including adult teams' experience of treating major injuries and paediatric teams' understanding of younger patients' needs. The interview explores safeguarding, developmental differences and the support teenagers may require during recovery. Ms Alfa-Wali argues for a shared approach that looks beyond the injury itself and draws on the strengths of both specialties to care for the young person as a whole.
This interview took place at the PCCS Annual Scientific Meeting 2026 in London.
Read the transcript
Automatic transcript, lightly edited for readability. It may contain errors, so check it against the video before quoting.
So I work in a London major trauma centre and sadly a lot of our work deals with adolescents, so children that are under the age of 18. And today's topic that I have discussed is mainly about trauma care for these patients, whether they should be in an adult setting or in a paediatric setting. And interestingly I believe personally that they should be in a sort of a joint care setting.
Even though the adult side gives them the opportunity to have the expertise of the numbers and volume that most adult healthcare professionals deal with, because of these patients that are sadly involved in interpersonal violence. So, stabbings and shootings, but also road traffic collisions which are really extreme and they end up with quite significant injuries.
The premise really of having to have both paediatric and adult involvement for this age group is just because they're not defined in any ward or type of intensive care setting. So the ability to be able to have both adult and paediatric healthcare professionals looking after them will really sort of counteract the problems that they would otherwise have, such as things with safeguarding, the teenage requirements that they have, being able to have access to Wi-Fi and TikTok, play therapy in some of them because they may be slightly younger than their actual age group, and also the dealings that we as adult doctors don't necessarily have, which the paediatric doctors have, those expertise.
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Cite this video
Ms Maryam Alfa-Wali. “Shared adult and paediatric expertise in adolescent trauma.” The Paediatric Video Journal, 7 November 2026. https://paediatricvj.com/videos/shared-adult-and-paediatric-expertise-in-adolescent-trauma-alfa-wali/
This interview is educational content intended for healthcare professionals and is not medical advice. Views expressed are those of the speaker. © The Paediatric Video Journal. All rights reserved.