A new machine hailed as a potential lifesaver for trauma patients has been installed at the Royal London Hospital which analyses if there’s a problem with blood-clotting.

Nearly half of all trauma patients are affected by coagulopathy which is potentially fatal and difficult to detect, says the hospital.

One-in-four have an established clotting dysfunction by the time they arrive in the Emergency Department.

This causes bleeding in the first few hours after injury which can lead to death or disability unless the right diagnosis is found quickly.

Consultant Professor Karim Brohi said: “We have to wait 45 minutes for test results to confirm we are providing the appropriate treatment.

“This new machine takes just five minutes to know exactly which treatment is needed which can be started immediately.”

The new Rotem diagnostic equipment unveiled yesterday (Tues) at the new hospital complex in Whitechapel—London’s main trauma centre—gives rapid information on blood clotting problems and why it occurs so dramatically in some patients.

It collates data from the thousands of trauma patients admitted each year, increasing their chances of further breakthroughs into the causes of abnormal bleeding.

Money for the new equipment was raised by friends of former Luton Town footballer Dave Preece, who died prematurely in 2007 following a short illness which involved bleeding-related complications.