Most of the above makes me glad I left the army during the summer - in one way. Having served as the JHF(A) Ops officer I saw some of the decisions that had to be made on the basis of availability of kit (or more usually the lack of it). Winches were generally u/s, but there is no guarantee that a winch in itself is the solution to such a casevac, as previous posters have noted.
I think that, while the bravery of aircrew and troops involved in IRT duties is unquestionably of the finest calibre, the lack of a dedicated cadre of Combat SAR crews and suitably equipped helicopters (Red-illume capability etc) is, and will continue to be, a significant factor in the outcome of complex rescues for years to come.
This government will pay billions to rescue a bank, but nothing to rescue a soldier from a minefield.
For the record, Admiral Tony Johnstone-Burt is undoubtedly the finest officer I ever worked for. He has moral courage in spades and I have no doubt he will do all the lobbying that he can to solve the problem, but even a passing familiarity with defence acquisition structures will show that he has no power to change anything - yet. My prediction in an envelope is that he is destined for much greater things and may yet find himself in a stronger position to do so later on.