THE county’s first flying doctors are preparing to reach new heights in a bid to save lives.

Malcolm Tunnicliff, Scott Farmery and Gareth Hughes, all aged 34, beat off stiff competition to become the first doctors to fly with the Kent Air Ambulance.

The three doctors will take part in a six-month pilot scheme to ensure patients receive the best possible treatment.

They will be able to shortcut waiting times and refer a critically ill patient to the most appropriate hospital from the scene of the accident, something paramedics are unable to do.

Dr Hughes said: “We are bringing some of the skills we have learned in hospitals to the pre-hospital environment.

“The benefit of having a doctor on board is that we are able to refer a patient to a suitable hospital, rather than taking them to one hospital before having to transfer them somewhere else because their injuries would need to be treated somewhere else.

“We believe in the Golden Hour and we want to work as quickly as we can to save someone.”

Although doctors fly with air ambulance crews in London, this is the first time a clinical experiment has been conducted to gauge its success.

The three recruits will undergo an intense and specialised Helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) training from October with Dr Gareth Davies, founder of the London Air Ambulance.

Dr Tunnicliff, who lives in Dartford and worked at Medway Maritime Hospital until April can’t wait to start his new job.

He said: “We will be working under very different circumstances to the ones we are used to. It’s going to be a big challenge.

“What we often forget is that we are doing our work in hospitals with good lighting, but we will now be expected to work on our feet and learning how to work in a different environment. They’re a friendly team here and we are looking forward to working with them and doing the best we can.”

Trust chief executive David Philpott, is confident the scheme will be a huge success.

He said: “I believe we have three exceptional candidates who under the clinical supervision of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust will be delivering advanced medical skills to the scenes of accidents and emergencies all over our region. It is a tribute to the communities that we serve that funds have been raised to cover the initial costs of this initiative.”

Once the trial has finished Mr Philpott hopes the Strategic Health Authority will help provide the funds to make the doctors’ appointments permanent.