Manx Care And GNAAS Strike Last Minute Deal

The Isle of Man’s emergency air service is sticking around for another year after Manx Care and the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) shook hands on a deal that keeps the life-saving chopper in the skies until at least April 2026. And breathe…

This comes after a bit of turbulence, with Health Minister Claire Christian revealing that Manx Care had been running the service on a ‘goodwill basis’ (which, for an emergency response team, sounds about as reassuring as an empty petrol tank light on the Mountain Road).

The issue? Manx Care couldn’t afford the £20,833 monthly retainer fee anymore.

GNAAS first landed on the island in 2022 as a six-month trial, but quickly proved itself vital, responding to 60 emergencies since then, including 21 road traffic collisions and 20 cardiac arrests.

Given the life-or-death nature of their work, people were understandably a bit alarmed when it looked like the contract might not be renewed.

In a classic case of ‘we’ll find the money somewhere’, Manx Care has now agreed to fund the service on a pay-as-you-go basis, while GNAAS will ramp up its fundraising efforts on the island to help keep things running.

Manx Care boss Teresa Cope called the deal a ‘solution to sustain this vital partnership,’ while GNAAS CEO Joe Garcia was ‘delighted’ that they’d be able to keep helping Manx residents in their time of need.

However, the long-term future of the service is still up in the air (excuse the pun), and it follows GNAAS’s head of operations, Lee Salmon, stepping down over concerns about funding, saying he couldn’t support ‘the direction being taken at a leadership level.’

For now, though, the island’s emergency air service has safely landed for another 12 months.