Martin Griffiths: serving communities affected by violence

Abstract

In 2019, Martin Griffiths, consultant trauma surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, UK, was appointed the NHS's first Clinical Director for Violence Reduction in London and then National Clinical Director for Violence Reduction for NHS England and NHS Improvement. In both roles, Griffiths leads and coordinates the strategy and delivery of health-led programmes to reduce interpersonal violence. In part, his insights come from his own early life experiences. He describes his younger self as “a very naive but streetwise south London boy” who grew up on a council estate in Lewisham with a single mother who was a health-care assistant.