Stuart Anderson MP has called for air ambulances to be recognised as a vital part of health infrastructure in rural communities like South Shropshire. In a letter to Health Minister Karin Smyth MP, Stuart has called for dedicated funding so Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is supported by clinical staff and equipment.
In response to a written parliamentary question submitted by Stuart in February, the Minister claimed that the government supports air ambulance charities through the "training and provision of National Health Service clinicians". However, it has emerged this is not the case for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity.
The charity has clarified that they receive neither of these items. According to their estimates, at least £9 million would be required for additional land-based services if their helicopter model was withdrawn from service.
As a charitable organisation, they rely entirely on the support and generosity of local people and businesses for their services. They state that it costs £13-14 million each year to maintain the service, including three aircraft and fleet of critical care cars.
Since 1991, the air ambulance charity has provided an invaluable emergency pre-hospital service across the region. It has responded to over 77,430 potentially life-saving missions.
This included more than 110 missions in South Shropshire last year alone – with deployments having taken place from Much Wenlock and Craven Arms to Ludlow and Church Stretton.
Stuart is dedicated to improving the access and quality of local health services as part of his campaign to enhance public services. Given the rural nature of the constituency, he wants to ensure that there is good integration across public-facing services so that they can complement each other.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
"As part of my plan for South Shropshire, I am dedicated to delivering the funding and support needed to enhance public services across the constituency. I believe that the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, the air ambulance charity for Shropshire, should be recognised as a vital part of health infrastructure in rural communities like ours. They provide a life-saving mobile service that, if scrapped, would cost £9 million in additional land-based services. Yet, government support through the training and provision of National Health Service clinicians has not been extended to us. So, I have called on the Minister to make an urgent intervention and rectify this situation."
