Cornwall Air Ambulance Costs Soar £10,000 a Month, MP Warns

The charity that scrambles helicopters to Cornwall’s worst road crashes and cardiac arrests is haemorrhaging money on fuel, and a Cornish MP has taken the problem all the way to Westminster.

Anna Gelderd, Member of Parliament for South East Cornwall, this week raised Cornwall Air Ambulance’s concerns about national emergency planning, fuel resilience and rising costs in Parliament. She asked the Leader of the House to back her in securing a meeting with the Department for Health and Social Care to discuss the matter.

A lifeline under pressure

Anna pointed to the importance of the service for rural and coastal communities in South East Cornwall, and said the right planning needs to be in place for a range of scenarios.

Air ambulance crews across the UK are tasked to more than 134 missions every day on average, responding to some of the most serious incidents including road traffic collisions, cardiac arrests and major trauma.

Anna said: “Our air ambulance crews work incredibly hard to look after us in rural and coastal areas like South East Cornwall. Cornwall Air Ambulance is a lifeline for our area, and we must ensure that it gets all possible support.

“I raised this in Parliament, so that I can secure a meeting with the relevant departments. Air ambulance charities are concerned that they are not included within national emergency and prioritisation planning, and they have my full support.”

Fuel costs spiralling

Tim Bunting, Chief Executive Officer at Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust, said the conflict in the Middle East continues to put significant pressure on air ambulance charities across the country.

Cornwall Air Ambulance responds to an average of 1,000 missions a year. Since the conflict began, aviation fuel costs have risen by £10,000 a month, with a further £1,000 monthly increase on fuel for the charity’s collection vans. That is additional money the charity needs to raise through its supporters in what Tim described as an already challenging economic climate.

Tim said: “The geographical nature of our county means we serve a particularly wide catchment area, so the impact for us cannot be understated.

“As a charity that relies on the generosity of the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, we are also aware that any disruption to fuel supplies or affordability could have an impact on their ability to support.

“We would be grateful for any support from the government to ensure we can continue our lifesaving work, responding to critically ill and injured patients, 365 days a year.”

Anna will be following up on her request for a meeting so that she can work with the government to address the concerns of people in South East Cornwall.