London air ambulance doctors attended a record number of incidents last year, new figures have revealed, as the charity issued a fresh plea for donations to replace its helicopter fleet.
Medics attended to 2,007 patients in 2023, a rise of 30 on the year before and the highest figure since the beginning of the service 35 years ago, data published by the London Air Ambulance Charity (LAAC) showed.
Air ambulance medics perform life-saving treatment at the scene for patients who are critically injured, and their helicopters help to transport doctors to the scene as soon as possible. They also carry out advanced procedures such as open chest surgery and blood transfusions.
Assaults were the leading cause of injury to patients, accounting for more than a quarter (28 per cent) of all callouts last year. Transport incidents were the second most common cause of injury, at 18 per cent.
Trauma doctors responded to the highest number of incidents in Westminster (108), followed by Southwark (103), Lambeth (99), Camden (98), Tower Hamlets (93) and Croydon (88).
Newham (84), Enfield (82), Ealing (79) and Brent (78) made up the remainder of the top ten.
Patients treated by the LAAC included a child under the age of one and eight patients aged over 90.
The figures come as the charity enters the final six months of its biggest ever fundraising campaign, named Up Against Time, which is aiming to raise £15million to fund two new H-135 T3H helicopters to bring into service later this year.
Jonathan Jenkins, chief executive of the LAAC, said the figures “highlight the crucial role our service plays in saving lives across London”.
“Whilst our service has never been more needed, in turn our charity has never needed the support of Londoners more," he said.
“After not receiving the Government funding we called for, we are once more turning to the people of this city to ensure we can continue providing this vital emergency care.
“Every donation brings us closer to our goal of replacing our fleet and maintaining our life-saving operations.”
Last month, the LAAC called on ministers to provide public funding for the new helicopter fleet after warning that the appeal was “behind where it was expected to be”.
A survey conducted by the LAAC in 2017 found that 63 per cent of Londoners do not know that the service is funded by donations.
