Crab, your worthy well-made arguments are veering into NHS-vs-everybody-else territory. Yes, in the ideal world the NHS would have the pick of the consultants and the beds for the patients. However, I take patients into hospitals where I've seen 6 ambulances waiting while beds become available for their patients (I was told in Wilts that on the shift before one of mine, they'd seen 11 vehicles in the stack outside the hospital in Bath). Not much point swoop-and-scooping when the patient joins a queue. Now, if a charity can afford to bring the golden hour to a close by effectively taking A&E to the patient then why shouldn't they be encouraged to do so? It's a bit like the debate about private medicine, although in this case the treatment is available to the people who most need it rather than those who can most easily afford it.
As for the suggestion that most calls would be "scoop and run", I've no access to any clinical audit so cannot provide an objective answer (subjectively, I'd say it's around 50-50 doc-skills-needed/not needed). However, with appropriate despatch skills an organisation which includes a HEMS aircraft should be perfectly capable of ensuring that the (exceptionally) highly qualified assets available are only sent to the appropriate tasks. Not, as I believe used to be the case in one county, sent to provide land-crew mealtime coverage in set areas because the despatchers were aware that aircrew are not allocated meal-breaks of their own. Another good reason for ensuring that the charity and not the Ambulance Service maintain operational control.
So, again subjectively - I've seen doctors achieve results not possible with paramedic/nurse-only crews, and look forward to continuing to do so. Those who don't approve need merely refrain from putting money into the appropriate collecting-tins (just be sure to refuse treatment should a helicopter turn up to look after you when it all goes horribly wrong one day).