The idea for Cornwall’s air ambulance originated during a major review of the Cornwall Ambulance Service and was one of the recommendations in the report published in April 1986. It was not, however, a new idea but all attempts to develop the concept had thus far failed until a unique window of opportunity arose in the summer of 1986. Helicopter air ambulances had been in use for about fifteen-years in various other countries but the centralised funding of the NHS had always rejected the concept. When Cornwall’s started operating on 1 April 1987 it was the first in the UK.
The Cornwall Ambulance Service was part of the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly District Health Authority’s Primary Care & Community Services unit under David Green, the recently appointed general manager. In the autumn of 1985 Green and a team of doctors and ambulance officers with external consultancy support from the Management Advisory Service to the NHS were reviewing ambulance service performance and how to implement a national ambulance service salary structure. Their report ‘Proposals for the future organisation of patient transport services in Cornwall’ became known as the MAS Report (April 1986). It recommended fundamental reorganisation of the ambulance service and various other options, including introduction of a helicopter air ambulance. In itself, use of helicopters was not new. Like other ambulance services, the Cornwall Ambulance Service used third-party helicopters for inter-hospital transfers. In the period 1983 – 1986 the Cornwall service spent just over £9,500 on such transfers: it was not a sufficiently high-demand task to justify a dedicated helicopter, a point not lost on BBC Radio Cornwall.
Green took the MAS report to the DHA meeting on 14 May 1986 for approval to proceed with the recommendations. The report attracted fierce public debate and on the day of the DHA meeting BBC Radio Cornwall interviewed Green and Len Holden, his Chief Ambulance Officer (in post since 1974 and now part of Green’s organisation), about the specific proposal for the introduction of a helicopter air ambulance. From 14 May 1986 the idea for the Cornwall air ambulance was on the public record and in the public domain. This resulted in a number of helicopter operators and freelance pilots contacting Green who, confiding only in Paul Hanage his Director of Finance whose advice and involvement was essential for the propriety of any plans, judged it too soon to proceed.
In the late summer of 1986 Geoff Newman, a freelance helicopter pilot and consultant, contacted Holden about the air ambulance project. This chance meeting between a pilot and the Chief Ambulance Officer for Cornwall was to prove fortuitous. Newman had been working on a parallel project in the Gloucester area when Holden suggested that his efforts should be directed towards the needs of Cornwall. Holden knew that his new Head of Primary care, David Green, an ex-RAF aviator of some standing, was supportive of the general concept of a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. It was Newman's decision to approach Stephen Bond of Bond Helicopters Ltd that was to prove to be the catalyst for the successful deployment of the air ambulance the following year. Visiting Stephen Bond in the autumn of 1986 Newman suggested that the provision of a helicopter free of charge for a three month trial period would allow the British public to see how such a service could improve emergency care. Stephen Bond's decision to agree to this proposal and the interesting exchanges with David Green during this critical phase are available in Newman's archives and clearly show how the project moved from concept to successful execution. (note - relevant correspondence can be published where required). Subsequently, Newman was retained by Bond Helicopters Limited (Bond), initially as their local project manager in which role he produced the first draft of the contract, and then as their pilot. During the autumn Green’s organisation and the Bond team continued discreet preparatory work to introduce the air ambulance as a joint venture between the DHA and Bond.
On 24 November 1986 Green took his confidential paper ‘Helicopter Emergency Medical Service for Cornwall’ (reference DRG/LC/12.11.86) to the DHA’s Corporate Management Group and then to the full DHA on 10 December 1986. Six days later the contract with Bond was signed and the helicopter started operations just under four months later on 1 April 1987. Before the end of that year Holden had retired and Newman had left the project but it would take another three years or so of hard work by an increasingly large and committed team of people to secure the future of Cornwall’s First Air Ambulance. The involvement of the Cornwall Air Ambulance charity was to prove to be the saviour of this new project for funding from Bond Helicopters was limited and the NHS were unable to provide the scale of finance required. It was always the case that 'he who paid the piper called the tune' and so the charity took an increasing role in the management of the service until we see today (sumer 2013) a move by the charity away from Bond Helicopters as the helicopter provider. Next year MAS at Gloucester/Staverton Airport will be providing two helicopters showing just how far the concept has developed in 26 years.