The UK's Midlands Air Ambulance Charity has moved a step closer to developing a purpose-built airbase and charity headquarters in the Shropshire area, which will benefit patients across the whole of the Midlands. Its plans were approved by Shropshire Council late January and the project is now awaiting final sign off from the charity's board of trustees, which is expected to take place in early February.

The charity continues to face a number of challenges, including the annual rising demand for advanced patient care on scene, the increased complexity of patient needs requiring specialist skills and medicines, and the fact there are insufficient training facilities for its critical care paramedics and doctors. In order to face these challenges head on and ensure the service is future-proofed for decades to come, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity aims to develop a purpose-built airbase and charity headquarters, complete with clinical training simulation suite.

Chief executive Hanna Sebright comments: “Over our 30-year history, our charity has been driven by a commitment to continuously improve advanced pre-hospital patient care across the Midlands. We consider our new airbase and charity headquarters to be a vital development for the whole of the region. The new facility, located in Cosford, Shropshire, will feature clinical training facilities, which are fundamental to delivering the advanced training programmes required for our clinicians. This will ensure the critical care team is equipped to treat the increasingly complex patient cases and will enhance our daily lifesaving service.”

A report by planning officer Richard Fortune at Shropshire Council says: “There is substantial public benefit from the provision of this service, and the case presented amounts to very special circumstances sufficient to justify this proposal.”

If Midlands Air Ambulance Charity's board of trustees approves the final details of the project, the organisation intends to start work on site this spring, and it is expected to be completed late 2022. The new facility will complement the charity's existing air ambulance-led service across the six Midlands counties, providing benefit to those unfortunate enough to suffer a traumatic injury or illness.

Initial funding for the new development has been facilitated via major grants from organisations such as the Department for Health and Social Care and the HELP Appeal. In addition, the charity will use a proportion of its modest reserves and undertake specific fundraising campaigns for areas of the new airbase, including the clinical simulation training suite, memory garden and community education zone.