Newham was the second busiest borough for London’s Air Ambulance last year.

Newham Recorder: The majority of patients treated in 2017 were victims of stabbings or shootings. Picture: London Air AmbulanceThe majority of patients treated in 2017 were victims of stabbings or shootings. Picture: London Air Ambulance (Image: Archant)

The charity, which delivers time-critical care to patients via helicopter or rapid response vehicle, was called out to the borough 103 times in 2017. Only Hackney, at 107, was attended more.

Of the 1,797 patients treated city-wide, 560 were victims of stabbings or shootings.

Lead clinician Dr Gareth Grier said: “Sadly, through 2017 the number of missions where a patient has been stabbed or shot has risen. It is not unusual now for our teams to perform open chest surgery for stab wounds twice in a single day. This would have been unheard of a few years back.

“But our world leading treatments means that we can give these and other patients we treat the best possible chance of survival.

“The challenge we have is to innovate further to help our patients even more.”

The charity costs £10 million a year to run and survives mainly on donations.