A SPECIALIST flying doctor service that transports consultants to treat the most critically-ill patients on the spot is being extended across the north and north-east, a move that could save 24 lives a year.

The Emergency Medical Retrieval Service will allow more patients to benefit from fast access to sophisticated treatment and enhance the Scottish Ambulance Service’s existing air ambulance service, which is operated out of Inverness and Glasgow.

Two Glasgow-based EMRS teams will focus on so-called secondary retrievals, picking up patients from a referring rural medical centre to a main city hospital such as Raigmore in Inverness, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Ninewells in Dundee.

Announcing the decision yesterday, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said the new service would help improve the survival chances of patients who are either critically ill or injured in accidents.

“Patients will often be some distance from the essential medical treatment they need. That is where EMRS comes in, flying experienced accident and emergency or intensive care consultants to patients in remote and rural communities,” she said.

“This early intervention can make the difference between life and death and that’s why we have decided to establish Scotland’s flying doctors as a national service, covering all parts of rural Scotland.”

The service, which will cost £2million a year to operate, is being extended across Scotland after a successful pilot scheme in Glasgow, which began in June 2008. An evaluation concluded the services offered were high quality and good value in terms of benefits for patients, and provided significant support for healthcare staff working in remote and rural areas.

NHS Orkney chairman John Ross Scott welcomed the news. He said: “It is estimated that 24 lives can be saved annually by extending the service across Scotland.

“I am delighted that Nicola Sturgeon has agreed to back the two-team Glasgow-based approach, which will open up coverage to Orkney, Shetland and Wick. The teams travelling to Orkney will come by plane and administer treatment on-site before escorting acutely ill patients south to hospital.”

Orkney Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur said the service would help reduce the pressure on the “severely overworked” air ambulance in Inverness.

“It does nothing to remove the need for a locally-based air ambulance in Orkney which can get to the isles quickly,” he added.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said: “The service has already saved lives and will undoubtedly save more when it becomes available throughout Scotland.”

Scottish Ambulance Service chief executive Pauline Howie said: “EMRS enhances the Scottish Ambulance Service’s existing air ambulance service, which is staffed by air paramedics who are specialists in emergency care and fly over 3,000 missions annually.”

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