Scotland’s Health Secretary, Shona Robison recently opened a new base for air ambulances at Glasgow Airport. The £4.5million site will serve as the base for air ambulance operations in western Scotland. It will also be the base for Scotstar or Scottish Specialist Transport and Retrieval Service, a national retrieval service catering to critically-ill patients.
What this means for Scotstar
Managed by the Scottish Ambulance Service, Scotstar includes the Scottish Neonatal Service and the Specialist Pediatric Retrieval Service, which are for newborns and children respectively. The Emergency Medical Retrieval Service is also a part of Scotstar and takes up the tasks of retrieving critically-ill adults and responding to serious emergencies.
With this new air ambulance base, the service will now gain immediate access to aircraft and specialist vehicles to continue their good work. This is a result of a £9.5million investment that has been made in patient care.
One-of-a-kind base for air ambulances
The opening of this air ambulance base marks the first time for multi-disciplinary clinical retrieval teams to operate from one base in the U.K. The clinical teams will be making use of an Airbus H145 helicopter and a King Air 200c plane along with a fast response car and special pediatric and neo-natal ambulances.
Owned and operated by Hampshire-based Gama Aviation, the new building will be bringing together multiple life-saving services in addition to air ambulances. The facility was built under the national air ambulance contract and will be home to about 85 members of staff. It is expected to provide exceptional service in terms of urgent care and response to those in need.
According to David Garbutt, chairman of the Scottish Ambulance Service, this new base is one-of-a-kind in the U.K., as it provides a single location for specialist clinical retrieval teams and air ambulance programs to align.
