PLANS for a world-class service to transport critically ill patients have been approved by ambulance chiefs.
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) wants to integrate three specialist services into one in a bid to improve care for those who are seriously ill.
The SAS would co-ordinate the new ScotStar service. It has submitted its business case for the project, predicted to cost £9.3 million a year, to the Scottish Government.
It could be up and running by next April, with its main base at the new air ambulance centre at Glasgow Airport. Other bases with clinical teams would be at key points around the country.
There are about 2200 cases a year in which medical teams manage the care of patients being transported by ambulance, including in the air.
Pauline Howie, SAS chief executive, said: "It will deliver more flexible and responsive care for critically ill patients across all of Scotland as a genuinely world-class service."
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