The Children's Air Ambulance is an air ambulance charity that transfers critically ill children from local hospitals to specialist paediatric centres throughout Great Britain. It also moves specialist teams and equipment to local hospitals when a child is too sick to travel. The service also sometimes acts as a patient transport service, returning children and families home after treatment. It was founded in 2005, and has been run by The Air Ambulance Service charity since 2011. More than 400 missions have been performed since the service began. The number of missions is anticipated to rise to more than 600 per year with the launch of the new helicopters.
Operations
The service operates two helicopters from Oxford Airport and Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The airdesk which coordinates the service remains centrally based at Coventry Airport in the same office as Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance. The Children's Air Ambulance can reach anywhere in the UK within two hours and reach all of the UK's specialist children's units within 70 minutes. Children and clinical teams are moved using AgustaWestland AW169 helicopters, which were leased by the charity in 2017. The helicopters always fly with two pilots and, when transporting a child, generally carry between one and three NHS clinicians, including at least one senior nurse and often a consultant. The new helicopters have an extra seat which can be used for either a parent to accompany their child or an additional member of clinical staff. The Children's Air Ambulance is registered with the Care Quality Commission.
Equipment
Children are transported in a bespoke stretcher, nicknamed 'Shrek', which was designed and built in partnership with consultant paediatricians and transport nurses. No specialised stretcher for paediatric helicopter transfer existed at the time. ‘Shrek’ can carry a baby up to 8 kg in a specialist ‘baby pod’, or facilitate larger babies and children on the stretcher mattress. The stretcher design allows for the equipment needed for paediatric intensive care to be secure and easily operated, whether in flight or on the ground.
Clinical partners
The Children's Air Ambulance has nine clinical partners which commission transfers:
The Children's Air Ambulance was founded in 2005. It raised funds over a five-year period, but did not own, lease or provide an air ambulance service. Following an investigation by the Charity Commission into a range of complaints from the public, the charity was taken over by The Air Ambulance Service in 2011. At the time, The Air Ambulance Service operated the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance and the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance. Under the management of The Air Ambulance Service, which had no connection in any way with the original charity, the Children's Air Ambulance flew its first team transfer in December 2012, and its first baby in May 2013. In September 2018, the Children's Air Ambulance launched its two new AgustaWestland 169 helicopters which are based at London Oxford Airport and Doncaster Sheffield Airport. The new helicopters are significantly larger and higher specification than the previous aircraft featuring bespoke clinical equipment and an additional seat for a parent to accompany the patient and crew on transfers.
Ambassadors
The Children's Air Ambulance has a number of Ambassadors supporting its work, including:
Prior to being taken over by The Air Ambulance Service the funding figures for the previous charity were as follows. In 2006 it raised £46,865 and spent £47,246, in 2007 it raised £19,466 and spent £2,265, in 2008 it raised £371 and spent £0, in 2009 it raised £56,542 and spent £52,232, in 2010 it raised £608,910 and spend £424,514, in 2011 it raised £563,189 and spent £488,659. In 2011 of the £488,659 spent, £427,600 was spent on governing and income generation, £61,000 was spent on charity purposes and £74,500 was retained. The Children's Air Ambulance is now part of The Air Ambulance Service, which receives no government funding and is entirely supported by public and corporate donations. The Air Ambulance Service charity raised £11.152m in 2013.
Shops
The Children's Air Ambulance opened its first shop in 2012 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire and now has twenty across the UK which are concentrated in and around London, the M40 corridor and the Midlands. The Stow on the Wold Children's Air Ambulance shop was shortlisted for the 'WOW! Factor Best Shop Interior Award' at the Charity Retail Awards 2018.
Criticisms
Prior to the launch of The Children's Air Ambulance, both the NHS and other air ambulance charities questioned the need for the service and advised potential donors to avoid the project, fearing their own fundraising efforts would lose out. In 2011, the Charity Commission published their report of an investigation into TCAA. It found that the charity had previously spent large amounts of income on consultancy with a company owned by the founder of the charity. The commission had also received large number of complaints regarding literature distributed by the charity that did not mention that the charity did not operate, hire or have access to an air ambulance. Advice and guidance was given on both matters. Subsequently, the charity was taken over by TAAS, who have no connection to the previous management. In 2013 the head of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was interviewed by the BBC and claimed many criticisms against TCAA, particularly surrounding fundraising. He highlighted that the name of the parent charity, The Air Ambulance Service was giving the impression to potential donors that they were representing all UK air ambulances, when in fact they only operate three of them.
