A Scottish MRT went to a contractor a few years ago for a proposal for a local MR helo. The price for a very modest service was as much as the entire budget for MR in Scotland. The location also had amongst the worst aeronautical condition in the UK. A really stupid idea.
There was a RUSI conf in April 2012 about this stuff. I was appalled by the English air ambulance situation where most of them seem to prioritise bitching on a scale that puts the RN/RAF stuff on here completely in the shade.
The DfT contract is the only show in town. Quite a lot of things are going well and we will get a good service. What we need now is for some of the details to get sorted so that we can get an excellent service. The flyers at Bristow know what is needed. Hopefully the management are on side. We need the CAA to make a few more small adjustments to the regulatory framework.