MSPs welcome new air ambulance base
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North-east MSPs have welcomed the opening of a new £1.1 million base for Scotland’s emergency medical adult retrieval service in the area.
The ScotSTAR (Scottish Specialist Transport and Retrieval) North base will provide potentially life-saving pre-hospital care for trauma patients and for other critically ill patients.
The opening has been backed by Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin and Banffshire and Buchan Coast MSP Stewart Stevenson.
With the opening of the ScotSTAR North base in Aberdeen, the pre-hospital critical care teams join the teams at the base in Glasgow to provide services that now cover the whole of Scotland.
The consultant-led teams at the base are on hand to provide major incident pre-hospital medical response, retrievals of patients with major trauma, critically ill and critically injured patients and telephone advice to remote and rural hospital staff with regard to resuscitation and safe transfer of patients with critical illness.
Ms Martin and Mr Stevenson said: “The opening of this new base builds upon previous investment in the north-east including the Major Trauma Centre in Aberdeen.
“The addition of this base will help to ensure care across the region is of the highest standard."
The base was officially opened by Health Secretary Jeane Freeman who said: “This new centre complements the services of the Scottish Trauma Network which will improve outcomes at every stage of the trauma patient journey, from pre-admission to rehabilitation.
“ScotSTAR North builds on the work being undertaken by our newly opened Major Trauma Centres in Aberdeen and Dundee linking up the resources, expertise and infrastructure of NHS Boards and the Scottish Ambulance Service.
"The new centre ensures that critical care across Scotland of the highest standard.
“The Scottish Government is committed to enhancing national collaboration and sharing best practice to continuously improve patient care, investing £10.2 million in 2018/19, and a further £18.2 million in 2019/20.”
ScotSTAR North clinical lead Dr Alastair Ross said: “We are delighted to deliver this service from the ScotSTAR North base in Aberdeen as part of our ongoing commitment to improved patient care across Scotland.
"Working closely together, the teams bring high-quality specialist care to patients by road and air, that best meet patient needs.
“The team is available 24/7 providing consultant-delivered critical care and safe transfer to definitive care for patients in remote health care locations and at accident scenes.
"It is a key component of the Scottish Trauma Network and will improve the care of seriously ill and injured patients across Scotland.”
