The North West Air Ambulance is excited to announce significant changes, which will enhance the service being provided to patients across the region.

Over the next few weeks, our charity will move our aircraft to bases at two of the region’s dedicated trauma hospitals, allowing qualified doctors to travel onboard to incidents which require specialist clinical care on scene.

In a £¼ million investment, our two helicopters will move from their current bases at City Airport, Manchester, and Blackpool Airport to the University Hospital of South Manchester, Wythenshawe, and Royal Preston Hospital, respectively.

Doctors in each of the hospital’s A&E department will subsequently be able to fly onboard the air ambulance to incidents where patients require specialist treatment on scene.

We are the first air ambulance service outside London to operate from hospital helipads.

Lynda Brislin, chief executive of the North West Air Ambulance charity, said: “A patient will no longer have to wait until their arrival at hospital to have access to the highest quality clinical care – instead this will be available to them in their time of extreme need.

“Being based at key trauma hospitals and having expert clinicians on hand for serious incidents will help to further increase patients’ life chances.

“We are committed to continuously enhancing our service but, as a charity, developments of this nature come at a significant cost and would not be possible without the support and generosity of the North West public.”

Brendan Ryan, Medical Director at the University Hospital of South Manchester, said: “Patient care is at the heart of all we do at UHSM and as we know often the speed and quality of care can make the difference between life and death for some patients who have suffered major trauma.

“The North West Air Ambulance charity does a remarkable job and moving the service closer to us means that together we are able to make a major contribution to Manchester’s Trauma Network and provide the very best outcomes for patients.”

Sean Hughes, Medical Director at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals, said: “As the regional major trauma centre for Lancashire and South Cumbria, we are delighted to be providing a base for the North West Air Ambulance.

“This will enable us to take key members of our team direct to incident scenes, which will help us to provide the best possible care for major trauma patients by providing quicker access to the highest quality clinical skills.”