misterbonkers,
You really are !
"IF" NPAS were paid for this Patient Transfer by the NHS then that is one thing,
and there would "only" (
) be the not insignificant matter
of the reduction in POLICE service during those few hours to chew over.
So - does anyone know -
WILL NPAS be paid for this ?
I also wonder just how long in time it actually took - from the moment that the specific patient
was identified as beng the recipient, to his ultimate arrival at Sheffield Hospital ? .......
Phone call from Transplant Team to the Recipient who agrees, then what ?
Maybe up to half an hour or even more for the Transplant Team to consider all the options,
to dismiss Air Ambulance, SAR, and Blood Bike options,
find the Contact details and make the request to NPAS, ( 0h 30m )
then another 15 minutes or so for NPAS to consider and obtain the authority to conduct the Task, ( 0h 45m ),
then another 15 minutes to identify the "Nearest aircraft", determine that it will need 2 aircraft or a refuel stop to complete the journey,
decide whch option to use and then arrange the second aircraft,
and get the first one airborne and en route to Treliske - quite possible that an hour could have already passed by now. ( 1h 00m )
Approximately 80 mile Transit ( assuming from Base ) to Treliske - 40 Minutes.
( 1h 40m )
For sake of argument 20 minute turn-around for Passenger to be briefed and loaded and to get airborne. ( 2h 00m )
140 mile transit to Filton - an hour and 10 minutes ( 3h 10m )
10 - 15 minute handover and transfer patient to NPAS HusBos - assuming they had arrived, ( 3h 20m )
Another 140 mile transit to Sheffield Hospital = another 1 Hour 10 minutes,
making a total of approximately 4 hours 30 minutes.
Sticking to the Speed limit you can drive ( without Blues & Two's ) from Treliske to Sheffield in 5 hours and 25 minutes
I reckon half an hour could easily shaved from that.
So, convince me this was best use of a cash strapped POLICE air service
even if only a proportion of the costs WERE paid for by the NHS, which I very much doubt :
( The following figures are VERY approximate - based on cross charges that HAVE been levied previously, but are only used to demonstrate the point ) :
Completing the journey by road : Approx. 340 miles = £60 worth of petrol each way,
or, saving half an hour - using around 4 Hours 50 minutes total flying time
( if both aircraft re-positioned back to their Bases )
at around £1200 per hour = £5800.00
Nail