Help from UK Chancellor for the Children’s Air Ambulance
The Children’s Air Ambulance will receive help from the UK Government to acquire a second helicopter.
The charity is a national service that flies critically ill children from local hospitals to specialist paediatric intensive care units. It is the first and only dedicated paediatric helicopter emergency transfer service in the country.
The Chancellor pledged to provide £2m from banking fines towards a second helicopter for their service.
“This is fantastic news that the Chancellor is allocating banking fines to help put a second Children’s Air Ambulance in the skies. Currently, our service can only reach around one in three patients who need our help.”
Andy Williamson, CEO of The Air Ambulance Service charity, which operates the national Children’s Air Ambulance, said: “This is fantastic news that the Chancellor is allocating banking fines to help put a second Children’s Air Ambulance in the skies. Currently, our service can only reach around one in three patients who need our help.”
“With a second helicopter, we should be able to meet nearly all the demand for emergency paediatric transfers from hospitals to specialist centres. We look forward to hearing further details about the banking funding and the huge impact it will have on patients and families across the UK,” added Williamson.
The charity works in partnership with six NHS clinical transport teams around the country.
Dr Steve Hancock, the co-lead consultant on Embrace Yorkshire & Humber Infant & Children’s Transport Service, said: “The team at Embrace is delighted that the Chancellor has supported the Children’s Air Ambulance by providing finance for a second helicopter. As Embrace have transferred over 60 babies and children in the existing helicopter, we know how much our patients will benefit from a larger, faster aircraft.”
“Working together with other specialist NHS transport teams, this development will allow us to provide the highest standard of critical care to our patients across the country,” Hancock added.
