Thud, the NHS provide the paramedics for AA because there is a clear need for them - if there was such a clear need for all AA to have doctors on board would they not provide them? They don't so the question is why?
Many of the posters on this thread seem to disagree that doctors are absolutely needed on AA.
Personally I think the paramedics do an excellent job - if you want them to have doctor skills then pay them more and give them extra training.
I accept that my idealist concept whereby money that comes from the public, via donation or taxes, should be used for the greater good, doesn't fit within current political or financial constraints. However, if charities are sitting on large surpluses of cash (that info came from other posters, not me) then maybe they should be looking at ways of providing better AA cover (numbers of aircraft, 24/7 ops) or even procuring larger helos for the increase in numbers of inter-hospital transfers that everyone is expecting.
PS I left Strawberry in early 84 to go to 72 so it's probably not me you are wistfully remembering
