I am aware of this…
Increasingly the NHS is having to take difficult decisions about what compromises to make across the whole spectrum of clinical areas. Yes the Air Ambulance is ‘better and more flexible’ than the traditional ambulance service but to what extent should it be available and what other services should be cut to make it part of standard NHS funded provision? Drs could be put into traditional ambulances but this takes them away from other duties…
Air ambulances are I guess deeply integrated into mainstream health services. They have been used to justify shutting down some A&E departments as they cut down journey times and allow big A&E facilities with access to a wider range of facilities to cover a large geographic area including locations that may be an hour or two away by road.
Nobody put me at risk because they didn’t know where I was.
No one has yet mentioned Palliative Care and Hospices - which are substantially provided through Marie Curie and McMillan - so I thought I’d throw these into the ring too… 
So there was a failure of supervison…
No there wasn’t.
It’s a bleedin’ miracle that those of us who grew up not in sight of a “grown up” 24 hours a day ever made it to adulthood. 
If this is true - and I simply do not know - then the Air Ambulance has become part of the ‘mainstream’ and is not just an add on. If so - in my view - it should therefore be paid for from the tax we pay - and not be reliant on charitable funding.
Just My View.
I missd your initial comment , but my first thoughts were also about McMillan and the hospice movement
My cousin was treated in hospice and the standard of care was superb. It closed shortly afterwards
A lot of our emergency services are charitable, the Flying Doctor does a great job covering huge areas outback it survives on a mix of government funding and donations. Guess it doesn’t really matter how they’re funded more importantly is how much we value their work.
The air ambulance landed in the field just by our house one day last week. Interestingly, the ordinary ambulance was already there by the time the air ambulance arrived. I guess the reason for both was that the helicopter could get to the hospital a bit quicker, but with the amount of treatment that can be given in an ambulance I wonder what difference the 10 minutes or so would make. I’ve read of cases where the air ambulance has taken patients to hospitals outside of the patients’ home area and this has led to all sorts of funding issues. Nothing’s perfect of course and if someone is in a critical condition it’s far better to have two ambulances rather than none.
I believe the really big difference isn’t the ten minutes saved going to a local hospital but rather the two hours saved going to a regional trauma centre or to the one hospital within 100 miles that specialises in a particular critical condition.
Also most air ambulances will have a doctor on board and most road ambulances won’t have.
In Germany under the State Insurance system of health care you can be treated in a state, private or charitable funded hospital depending on condition. As others have indicated with MacMillan etc fully integrated into the wider healthcare system there’s a clearly defined role for charities.
Being independent removes the possibility of political interference. Recently the Coast Guard asked RNLI to assist with escorting a boat of asylum seekers. RNLI refused as they aren’t an arm of the Coast Guard and attend to people in the water whose life’s are in danger. 
I think also what is not generally understood is that rapid treatment at the point of injury can both massively increase the chances of survival for catastrophic injuries, as well as cut down on rehabilitation time in ITU and secondary care etc.
My cousin works for the Air Ambulance Service and is currently based in Wales where the need should be extremely obvious.
I will note that the staff on an air ambulance are usually far more qualified than the paramedics on board an ambulance and capable of performing surgery and more on the spot if required so I wouldn’t be too worried about which one someone is better off in when it comes to things like a 10 minute delay.
Accident prone, the Welsh, then? 
Lots of cars doing only 20 mph perhaps!
That what happened with me. Suspected broken back and bumpy Yorkshire roads so I was airlifted to James Cook major trauma unit.
Not saying that it’s the case here, but quite often a situation like this could be a patient transfer. I’ve had to stand by with a fire appliance when there was a transfer hospital-hospital organised using the air ambulance.