SEVERAL sites are being considered for a new £1.9m centre of medical excellence for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

The charity has submitted a bid for funding for the new base, which bring under one roof the charity’s operational crew and its fundraising and administrative staff.

Grahame Pickering, a former ambulance service paramedic who launched the charity from a back room in his house 15 years ago, said the main benefit of the move was the boost it would provide to the charity’s research and training functions.

He said: “We are offering more comprehensive care year on year. Last year we started carrying blood. This year, plasma. But these developments – which are saving lives – are only made possible through training and research.

“The new site would give us the perfect platform to be able to take this further, as well as space to share that knowledge with other emergency services for the benefit of patients everywhere.”

The charity has applied for funding from a pot of money levied by the Government on banks found to be guilty of fixing the inter-bank lending rates.

Last year, GNAAS was successful in accessing £250,000 of the money in order to develop a feasibility study and expand its plans.

Under the current funding proposal, he said the charity would make “considerable savings” as it would not be paying rent on three different sites as staff would be under one roof. Having on-site meeting and training space would also eliminate the need to rent external facilities.

He added: “Through the support of the public, the service has grown into one of the most pioneering emergency response teams in the country. Now we need to safeguard that and then take it to the next level.”

A public consultation process will begin shortly. Visit gnaas.com/our-new-home for the latest on the project.