The absence of G-EHMS on what was called 'an annual' ... it lasted 7 weeks ... and might be better termed 'an age' ... is well documented.
Having arrived at Staverton on August 8 the aircraft was not expected to return to service after being off-line at least 7 weeks. and that was the time it took. Two weeks is a typical quote for an Explorer annual.
The absence of the primary airframe did not greatly affect the performance of the HEMS service. It has always been about getting the doctor to the patient rather than lifting them to hospital. HEMS normally only fly 1 in 5 of the patients attended so some 80% of the job continues as before, and the medical team still get to the incidents within the average 11 minutes from receiving the 999 emergency call to putting the doctor with the patient.
In the meantime the Medical Team flew in an AS355F1 G-BSYI chartered from PremiAir.