Essential to keep our flying doctors in the air
WE read and hear a lot about the NHS at the moment, and rightly so.
The effects of Covid continue to impact on almost every part of life in every part of the NHS, be it hospitals, GP surgeries and everything inbetween.
There is constant talk about the NHS needing more funding – and there’s no doubt it does.
But one area which really deserves attention is the future of the air ambulance service.
Barely a week goes by without seeing the distinctive helicopter used by the NWAA flying over Rossendale.
The presence of Lancashire’s own ‘flying doctors’ can be quite dramatic – if you see them land and take off you know you are, almost literally, watching a life being saved.
In an area like Rossendale, an air ambulance can be the difference between life and death, recoverable injury or permanent disability.
One of the borough’s most appealing features, its rugged countryside, is also one of the reasons why an air ambulance is
so vital – minutes saved in getting to hospital equal more lives saved.
Which is why it’s all the more remarkable the North West Air Ambulance Service relies on donations to survive. £9.5m is needed every year to keep it in the air.
It receives no government or NHS funding. None at all.
When you think about some of the things which get government money, it’s mind-boggling to think something proven to save lives week in, week out
has to rely on volunteers with charity buckets, and the goodwill of local people, to keep going.
It’s also a brilliant example of what Levelling Up could be.
Too often, the Northern Powerhouse, or Levelling Up as it has become known, has been about offering big sums of cash for physical projects.
Much of this has been focused on cities, although we have seen some in this area, such as investment in Bacup although some point to
the fact that such money is less about Levelling Up new funds helping us catch up, but a continuation of general support to ensure we don’t fall further behind.
But if areas like Rossendale are to be truly ‘Levelled Up’ it’s surely support for services which need to take priority.
That should be schools – we are still shortchanged here in Rossendale compared to many areas of the country.
That’s not a political point, it’s been a problem
for decades, regardless of which Government is in power.
It means investing more in the NHS too – and this column would argue an obvious starting point should be the air ambulance.
Essentially, the air ambulance makes up for something of a postcode lottery in ambulance response times.
Poor transport connections, and the basic topography of our area, mean that an air ambulance isn’t a nice to
have, but a necessity if we are to have the same sort of emergency health access as people who live in cities or better connected areas.
That’s what Levelling Up should be about.
Proper investment in services which help improve people’s lives.
Especially amidst a cost of living crisis which is likely to result in people having less money to donate to services which, frankly, shouldn’t rely on the generosity of local people in the first place.