Congratulations to CHC for winning the NSW Government HEMS tender....
Found the following extracts from local Syndey radio station interesting..... appears Lifesaver and Careflight are digging in for a battle.....
Ding!...round 1 to CHC! Will have to wait to see if it's a knockout though!
2GB (Sydney), Ray Hadley Morning Show, 08/12/2006 10:43AM Compere: Ray Hadley
Hadley is joined by John Fraser(*), the deputy chairman of Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter Rescue Service. Fraser(*) says that he has not been made aware of the NSW Govt's decision to give the tender to a Canadian company other than hearing Hadley's interview with Ian Badham, the director of NRMA Careflight. Hadley says that it is cowardly of Morris Iemma's NSW Govt to make the announcement on the day that he and Alan Jones go on holiday. Fraser(*) says that the NSW Govt has been planning this move for a long time and that when he asks Greg Rocheford from the NSW Ambulance Service he told him that there was no plan for the future of the helicopter services. Hadley says that Fraser's(*) organisation will have lost the tender by midday and Fraser(*) says that the organisation will lose the pilots and that they will not be able to replace them. Fraser(*) says that the Govt knows that the issue will die down and Hadley says that he will make sure that it does not. Fraser(*) points out that their pilots will leave and that hey cannot afford to pay them the same. Hadley says that he cannot imagine why the NSW Govt is spending more money than they have to when they are financially 'crippled'. Fraser(*) says that the NSW Govt only provides one third of the funding. Hadley says that this decision makes him suspect the Health Department of 'bastardry'. Fraser(*) says that the Westpac Lifesaver service has been going fro 34 years and that they have great support. Hadley says that he could almost understand the decision if it made financial sense and Fraser(*) suggests that the decision was made to gain power.
Interviewee: John Fraser(*), deputy chairman, Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter Rescue Service
Duration: 4 mins 35 secs
SummaryID: S00024539313
2GB (Sydney), Ray Hadley Morning Show, 08/12/2006 10:37AM Compere: Ray Hadley
Caller David says that he is one of the original crew members of the Westpac's medical helicopter services. He says that the NSW Govt cannot even run a hospital, let alone run the helicopters as well. He says that if he gets a chance to talk to Ian Badham again he should tell him that he has a scrap book about the first fund raising. Hadley says that that would have been when Westpac was the Bank of NSW.
Duration: 1 mins 55 secs
SummaryID: S00024539256
2GB (Sydney), Ray Hadley Morning Show, 08/12/2006 10:28AM Compere: Ray Hadley
Hadley says that he was reluctant to speak to Dr Lewis Geller(*) about the issue of the future of the NRMA Careflight and Westpac Lifesaver helicopter services because he may have been putting him at risk. He says that Geller(*) sent him an email saying that the NSW Govt has designed the tender process for the helicopter service so that only a commercial operator could win. He says that Geller calls for the tender bids to be brought into the public domain. Hadley says that Geller is a senior member of the NSW Health Department but that he is joining the program anyway. He says that the middle management in the NSW Health System are trying to build empires. Hadley says that Geller claims that Careflight and Lifesaver could save the Govt $70m. Geller says that an independent study found that the best medical care would be provided by the current operators and their current medical teams. Geller says that the NSW Govt's decision will cost someone their life because Careflight provides the best service of its kind in the world. Hadley reads from Geller's email and says that the new service cannot provide the same kind of care and that the NSW Govt will not be able to build up such a good medical team again. Hadley says that NSW Health Minister John Hatzistergos must reverse his decision and that he should not think of punishing Geller for speaking publicly.
Interviewee: Dr Lewis Geller(*), senior medical officer, NSW Health
Duration: 6 mins 28 secs
SummaryID: S00024539080
2GB (Sydney), Ray Hadley Morning Show, 08/12/2006 10:21AM Compere: Ray Hadley
Hadley says that he received an email last night that NSW Health Minister John Hatzistergos will announce tonight that he is replacing the NRMA Careflight and Westpac Lifesaver services with a Canadian corporation. He says that NSW Govt sources have broken the Health Department's rule of silence to leak the information. He says that the time has been set so that both he and Alan Jones will be on holiday. He says that he is calling on NSW Premier Morris Iemma to stop this. He says that if Hatzistergos and John Della Bosca think that the public will support a commercial company from Canada 'they have another thing coming'. He introduces Ian Badham, the chairman of Careflight to discuss it. Badham says that he has received calls from Govt sources that indicate the same thing that Hadley's email s saying. He says that the stupidity of the situation is that while the discussions go on Careflight is actually assisting doctors treat a man who has fallen. Hadley says that the Govt only provides a third of the money to pay for these services and that the rest of the money comes from the public and the corporate sponsors. Badham says that the NSW Govt is turning their backs on the donors of this service. Hadley says that it will cost the NSW Govt more money to have the Canadian Helicopter Corporation run the services and asks why they would do it in this economic climate. Badham says that he will break the probity restriction placed on him and says that Careflight has placed deposits on five new helicopters and that they will definitely be coming to NSW. He says that Careflight will be willing to work with the NSW Govt to make sure that their pilots can continue to work with the new helicopters. He says that Hadley quoted the Daily Telegraph today and says that the NSW economy is in trouble. He says that they can bring $100m of donations to the table and that it is stupid to reject this. Hadley says that he has spoken to Greg Rochford from the NSW Ambulance Service and that he has defended the decision. Badham says that Rochford is an honourable man, but that there are other people in the ministry who are trying to take control of the service and stamp their name on it. Hadley says that they are wanting to 'bugger up' this health service as they have done to all the other health service. Badham says that the helicopter services can work with the NSW Govt and doe snot understand the decision. Hadley says that he will pick up the topic again next year.
Interviewee: Ian Badham, NRMA Careflight, chairman
Duration: 7 mins 01 secs
SummaryID: S00024538875
2GB (Sydney), Ray Hadley Morning Show, 08/12/2006 10:05AM Compere: Ray Hadley
Hadley summarises the news for the day. He says that he has received an email that tells him that the NSW Govt has decided to award the rescue helicopter contract to a Canadian helicopter corporation, which will take money away from the NRMA Careflight and the Westpac rescue Helicopter services. He says that he will talk to the services about how they feel about this. he says that the email says that the NSW Govt is waiting until he and Alan Jones are on holidays to announce the decision so that it will not be questioned.
Duration: 1 mins 05 secs
Let the games begin..............