HeliService International win Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance
How about combining all the air ambulance charities into one - saves on a lot of CEOs salaries - then have one company provide aircraft, pilots and engineering.
Economies of scale, mutual cross cover, the ability to move 'odd' people to different ponds, standardisation across the board, one or maybe two aircraft types, one AOC - the list goes on.
Sounds a bit like the SAR contract but perhaps that is exactly what is needed instead of this fragmented and inefficient set up we have now.
Put the police air provision into the equation as well and share the funding between Govt and the 'single' charity.
Economies of scale, mutual cross cover, the ability to move 'odd' people to different ponds, standardisation across the board, one or maybe two aircraft types, one AOC - the list goes on.
Sounds a bit like the SAR contract but perhaps that is exactly what is needed instead of this fragmented and inefficient set up we have now.
Put the police air provision into the equation as well and share the funding between Govt and the 'single' charity.
Originally Posted by [email protected]
How about combining all the air ambulance charities into one - saves on a lot of CEOs salaries - then have one company provide aircraft, pilots and engineering.
Economies of scale, mutual cross cover, the ability to move 'odd' people to different ponds, standardisation across the board, one or maybe two aircraft types, one AOC - the list goes on.
Sounds a bit like the SAR contract but perhaps that is exactly what is needed instead of this fragmented and inefficient set up we have now.
Put the police air provision into the equation as well and share the funding between Govt and the 'single' charity.
Economies of scale, mutual cross cover, the ability to move 'odd' people to different ponds, standardisation across the board, one or maybe two aircraft types, one AOC - the list goes on.
Sounds a bit like the SAR contract but perhaps that is exactly what is needed instead of this fragmented and inefficient set up we have now.
Put the police air provision into the equation as well and share the funding between Govt and the 'single' charity.
Last edited by gipsymagpie; 24th Apr 2021 at 18:39. Reason: Spellink
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UK AOC - or do they piggy back onto an existing UK AOC from a negotiated agreement ? What about getting an Foreign Carrier Permit or Article 250 Permit from the CAA for temporary ops and keep re-applying as required.......
At the risk of sounding like a cyclic, isn't that exactly what NPAS was meant to do? Doesn't seem to have worked terribly well.
Originally Posted by [email protected]
How about combining all the air ambulance charities into one - saves on a lot of CEOs salaries - then have one company provide aircraft, pilots and engineering.
Economies of scale, mutual cross cover, the ability to move 'odd' people to different ponds, standardisation across the board, one or maybe two aircraft types, one AOC - the list goes on.
Sounds a bit like the SAR contract but perhaps that is exactly what is needed instead of this fragmented and inefficient set up we have now.
Put the police air provision into the equation as well and share the funding between Govt and the 'single' charity.
Economies of scale, mutual cross cover, the ability to move 'odd' people to different ponds, standardisation across the board, one or maybe two aircraft types, one AOC - the list goes on.
Sounds a bit like the SAR contract but perhaps that is exactly what is needed instead of this fragmented and inefficient set up we have now.
Put the police air provision into the equation as well and share the funding between Govt and the 'single' charity.
Originally Posted by [email protected]
How about combining all the air ambulance charities into one - saves on a lot of CEOs salaries - then have one company provide aircraft, pilots and engineering.
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100% agree Sir K. We should not have to rely on charitable donations to fund an emergency service, but I suppose like the lifeboats, the government gets it for free at the moment, so there is no incentive for them to invite the headache of taking it on.
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The charity model is certainly not without its flaws, but so far it has worked quite well in the UK. Modern helicopters, advanced medical equipment, well-trained staff and an excellent safety record. The alternative is either government operated and be starved of investment in equipment and personnel (just look at all the Defence Reviews) or a fully commercial operation like in the US with a less than stellar safety record.
The charity model is widespread in UK society; there are more than 1,600 cancer charities alone. Of course the excesses need to be tackled, but the current system has forged a strong bond between local community and their air ambulance, which simply would not exist if the service was government funded / government operated.
The charity model is widespread in UK society; there are more than 1,600 cancer charities alone. Of course the excesses need to be tackled, but the current system has forged a strong bond between local community and their air ambulance, which simply would not exist if the service was government funded / government operated.
The charity backed air ambulances are considerably better off than the government backed police helicopters. The Charities Commission is constantly warning the air ambulances about the spare millions they have in the bank. Millions that NPAS are desperate for!
Come on crab, its jobs for the boys. Look at Cornwall, we better have 2 helicopters because Devon has 2. We haven't spent enough money so we will build a big glass hangar for them and put them both in the same place. We will make them IFR so we can get to Treliske ( the pad there doesnt have an ILS so what's the point ? )
Lets be honest there is a competition between all the charities as to who can have the biggest fastest machine. I have never really understood why they all have to have a trauma doctor on board ? Would he not be more productive being at a hospital ? I still think it is better to have less expensive machines and more of them. BO 105 was small but really cheap to buy and run compared to an AW169. I know the RAF have a Chinook with a trauma team in the back for Afghan which is wear Cornwall seems to want to go. I know it is rough in Cambourne and Redruth but one doesn't step on an IED there !
Lets be honest there is a competition between all the charities as to who can have the biggest fastest machine. I have never really understood why they all have to have a trauma doctor on board ? Would he not be more productive being at a hospital ? I still think it is better to have less expensive machines and more of them. BO 105 was small but really cheap to buy and run compared to an AW169. I know the RAF have a Chinook with a trauma team in the back for Afghan which is wear Cornwall seems to want to go. I know it is rough in Cambourne and Redruth but one doesn't step on an IED there !
Come on crab, its jobs for the boys. Look at Cornwall, we better have 2 helicopters because Devon has 2. We haven't spent enough money so we will build a big glass hangar for them and put them both in the same place. We will make them IFR so we can get to Treliske ( the pad there doesnt have an ILS so what's the point ? )
Lets be honest there is a competition between all the charities as to who can have the biggest fastest machine. I have never really understood why they all have to have a trauma doctor on board ? Would he not be more productive being at a hospital ? I still think it is better to have less expensive machines and more of them. BO 105 was small but really cheap to buy and run compared to an AW169. I know the RAF have a Chinook with a trauma team in the back for Afghan which is wear Cornwall seems to want to go. I know it is rough in Cambourne and Redruth but one doesn't step on an IED there !
Lets be honest there is a competition between all the charities as to who can have the biggest fastest machine. I have never really understood why they all have to have a trauma doctor on board ? Would he not be more productive being at a hospital ? I still think it is better to have less expensive machines and more of them. BO 105 was small but really cheap to buy and run compared to an AW169. I know the RAF have a Chinook with a trauma team in the back for Afghan which is wear Cornwall seems to want to go. I know it is rough in Cambourne and Redruth but one doesn't step on an IED there !
Come on crab, its jobs for the boys. Look at Cornwall, we better have 2 helicopters because Devon has 2. We haven't spent enough money so we will build a big glass hangar for them and put them both in the same place. We will make them IFR so we can get to Treliske ( the pad there doesnt have an ILS so what's the point ? )
Lets be honest there is a competition between all the charities as to who can have the biggest fastest machine. I have never really understood why they all have to have a trauma doctor on board ? Would he not be more productive being at a hospital ? I still think it is better to have less expensive machines and more of them. BO 105 was small but really cheap to buy and run compared to an AW169. I know the RAF have a Chinook with a trauma team in the back for Afghan which is wear Cornwall seems to want to go. I know it is rough in Cambourne and Redruth but one doesn't step on an IED there !
Lets be honest there is a competition between all the charities as to who can have the biggest fastest machine. I have never really understood why they all have to have a trauma doctor on board ? Would he not be more productive being at a hospital ? I still think it is better to have less expensive machines and more of them. BO 105 was small but really cheap to buy and run compared to an AW169. I know the RAF have a Chinook with a trauma team in the back for Afghan which is wear Cornwall seems to want to go. I know it is rough in Cambourne and Redruth but one doesn't step on an IED there !
BO105 and ILS are not the future. Aircraft with AFCS & IFR capability and RNAV are.
RNAV could open up the flyability window hugely in the coming years, pushing below CAT 1 minima, as the precision and reliability of systems is accepted. Approval of RNAV hospital approaches and approaches/departures to safe pick-up points for remote areas are all thinkable. So much better than buggering about VFR in when the weather is marginal.
The argument for 2 aircraft in Devon and Cornwall will be the geographical size of the areas and the relatively poor road links compared to many other UK areas.
Add in the fact that the population doubles when the tourists arrive - which seems most of the year when Covid doesn't prevent travel - and the need to get to the Scillies for Cornwall and you start to see why two is a better option.
A central charity could still promote itself locally just as they do at the moment so the idea that the public are donating to their own AA would still be there.
Add in the fact that the population doubles when the tourists arrive - which seems most of the year when Covid doesn't prevent travel - and the need to get to the Scillies for Cornwall and you start to see why two is a better option.
A central charity could still promote itself locally just as they do at the moment so the idea that the public are donating to their own AA would still be there.
If anyone suggested removing Addenbrookes or Great Ormond Street hospital from the NHS and running them as local charities I suspect the men in white coats would come round. Both these hospitals have serious charities that rightly or wrongly provide additional funding but they are core funded and managed according to NHS standards using NHS employed doctors and nurses under NHS control. Most air ambulance work is trauma which is a multispecialty service that depends upon the weakest link. No sensible clinician, starting from scratch, would allow a single link to be provided by a multitude of local charities and run outside the NHS. It is noteworthy the lack of peer reviewed audit and research about air ambulance work in the UK and the resulting lack of national guidelines and standards for the medical side.
I fully accept the high standards and innovation over the years from the aviation side but there is a difference between the NHS contracting in services it cannot provide (AOC, maintenance) and relying on a disparate provision. The charities have been fantastic and without them and public generosity we would have got nowhere. They should continue, but healthcare funding has moved on from the 1980s and air ambulance work should be part of UK healthcare in the same way as land ambulances.
I fully accept the high standards and innovation over the years from the aviation side but there is a difference between the NHS contracting in services it cannot provide (AOC, maintenance) and relying on a disparate provision. The charities have been fantastic and without them and public generosity we would have got nowhere. They should continue, but healthcare funding has moved on from the 1980s and air ambulance work should be part of UK healthcare in the same way as land ambulances.
If anyone suggested removing Addenbrookes or Great Ormond Street hospital from the NHS and running them as local charities I suspect the men in white coats would come round. Both these hospitals have serious charities that rightly or wrongly provide additional funding but they are core funded and managed according to NHS standards using NHS employed doctors and nurses under NHS control. Most air ambulance work is trauma which is a multispecialty service that depends upon the weakest link. No sensible clinician, starting from scratch, would allow a single link to be provided by a multitude of local charities and run outside the NHS. It is noteworthy the lack of peer reviewed audit and research about air ambulance work in the UK and the resulting lack of national guidelines and standards for the medical side.
I fully accept the high standards and innovation over the years from the aviation side but there is a difference between the NHS contracting in services it cannot provide (AOC, maintenance) and relying on a disparate provision. The charities have been fantastic and without them and public generosity we would have got nowhere. They should continue, but healthcare funding has moved on from the 1980s and air ambulance work should be part of UK healthcare in the same way as land ambulances.
I fully accept the high standards and innovation over the years from the aviation side but there is a difference between the NHS contracting in services it cannot provide (AOC, maintenance) and relying on a disparate provision. The charities have been fantastic and without them and public generosity we would have got nowhere. They should continue, but healthcare funding has moved on from the 1980s and air ambulance work should be part of UK healthcare in the same way as land ambulances.
Air ambulances are regularly submitting their CQC results and a multitude of papers that confirm their benefit and also confirm outdated clinical practice that needs changing, just like any progressive clinical governance. Clinical trials and different drugs are also trialled by the specialist medics which one day may find themselves in the hands of land ambulance crews further benefitting patients that don’t require a helicopter.
You may also be surprised to find that trauma does not make up as much of the work as it used to with a lot more specific medical work being undertaken.
A perfect system it is not but it would be wrong to think that the clinical governance is not near identical to what is found in the ED of the local trauma centre being that the hospital directors tend to be one in the same, hospital clinical director and air ambulance director.
Only 1 aircraft means a high probability of no service due to any number of tech issues. Good case for having a spare for a time critical service,
BO105 and ILS are not the future. Aircraft with AFCS & IFR capability and RNAV are.
RNAV could open up the flyability window hugely in the coming years, pushing below CAT 1 minima, as the precision and reliability of systems is accepted. Approval of RNAV hospital approaches and approaches/departures to safe pick-up points for remote areas are all thinkable. So much better than buggering about VFR in when the weather is marginal.
BO105 and ILS are not the future. Aircraft with AFCS & IFR capability and RNAV are.
RNAV could open up the flyability window hugely in the coming years, pushing below CAT 1 minima, as the precision and reliability of systems is accepted. Approval of RNAV hospital approaches and approaches/departures to safe pick-up points for remote areas are all thinkable. So much better than buggering about VFR in when the weather is marginal.
Until we send up our own SBAS satellite which seems to be the farcical solution being proposed by government.
"I don't think that anybody should have their life dependent upon a charity"
Like the RNLI? They avoid Govt oversight like the plague but do a good job - and raise a lot of cash every year
Like the RNLI? They avoid Govt oversight like the plague but do a good job - and raise a lot of cash every year
There is a great deal of research generated by HEMS medical teams. The ethos of HEMS prehospital research goes right back to Alistair Wilson and John Nicoll who had to fight to get the London service started and then continued. One of the enduring issues with this type of prehospital work is its difficulty. Look at the amount of effort put into the Paramedic 2 study and its results are still questioned. Far more needs to be done.
There are perfectly good audit programmes and protocols that are frequently and well trained in all UK HEMS systems.
There are perfectly good audit programmes and protocols that are frequently and well trained in all UK HEMS systems.
Avoid imitations
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I wonder how that would work from a fundraising aspect as a charity. The money generally comes from the same donors and businesses where there’s a feeling of local pride over their county’s air ambulance provider. Someone donating in Northumberland may not feel like they see the benefit of their donation if they think it’s being spent in Cornwall.
My first thought was that he might be a fraudster. He seemed to have authentic I.d. but it was immediately obvious from it that he was trying to get me to sign up to support a unit that wasn’t our local one at all. I pointed out he was in the wrong county! He asked me why I was saying that and I pointed out that I was in the industry and worked from the same airfield as the unit he was collecting for. I also told him that “my local” air ambulance was about sixty miles from the one he was representing, that a friend was chief pilot of that unit and we already supported that one.
The chap got quite defensive and grumpy; needless to say he didn’t get my bank details.
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STARS - Canada’s HEMS charity
STARS is a HEMS charity covering two provinces in Canada - multiple bases across a vast area. One organization, one AOC, multiple helicopters. Makes more sense!
https://stars.ca/
https://stars.ca/