Key points
- An air ambulance transfer is a chain of handovers, and the flight is only one link in it.
- The treating doctor decides whether the patient can travel. The receiving hospital must accept the patient before anything is booked.
- The family's main jobs are consent, documents, and one clear decision-maker.
Families often picture an air ambulance as a single event: a plane takes off and lands. In practice a transfer is a chain of handovers between people who each have a different responsibility. When every link in the chain is confirmed in advance, transfer day is calm. When one is assumed rather than confirmed, it is not.
This guide walks through the chain in the order it usually happens. For what we coordinate on your behalf, see air ambulance and medical transfers.
The people involved
A typical hospital-to-hospital transfer involves at least six parties:
| Who | What they are responsible for |
|---|---|
| Treating doctor at the sending hospital | Whether the patient can travel, and what support they need on the way |
| Receiving hospital and admitting doctor | Accepting the patient and having a bed ready |
| Licensed aviation operator | The aircraft, the flight crew and flight permissions |
| Transfer medical team | Clinical care from the moment the patient leaves the ward until handover |
| Ground ambulance providers | The road journeys at both ends |
| The family | Consent, documents, payment decisions and their own travel |
A coordinator’s job is to make sure each of these parties knows what the others are doing, and that nothing moves until the step before it is confirmed. Our how we work page explains how we keep that visible to the family.
Step 1: The first call
The first conversation establishes the facts that decide everything else: where the patient is, where they need to go, the patient’s current condition as described by the treating team, and who in the family is making decisions. If the destination hospital has not been chosen, that becomes the first task.
It helps to have the hospital name, the ward or ICU, and the treating doctor’s contact details to hand. You do not need to have medical reports ready for the first call.
Step 2: Clinical information and fitness to travel
With the patient’s or family’s consent, the treating hospital provides a current medical summary. The transfer medical team reviews it and speaks to the treating doctor. Together they decide whether air transfer is appropriate, which kind of aircraft and medical team is needed, and whether anything must happen before the patient can safely travel.
This is a clinical decision and it is never made by a coordinator. The guide on fitness to fly explains what doctors look at.
Sometimes the answer is that a dedicated air ambulance is not needed, and a commercial flight with a medical escort is more proportionate. Sometimes the answer is that the patient should not travel yet.
Step 3: Acceptance by the receiving hospital
No responsible transfer begins without written acceptance from the receiving hospital. The admitting team needs the medical summary, and they need to confirm that a bed of the right kind, such as an ICU or high-dependency bed, will be available when the patient arrives.
Step 4: Plan and quotation in writing
Once the clinical plan and the receiving bed are clear, the family receives a written plan and a quotation. A good quotation separates what is confirmed from what is an estimate, and states what is included: aircraft, medical team, ground ambulances, airport charges and any accompanying family member.
If an insurer or assistance company is paying, they usually need to approve the plan first. See does insurance cover air ambulance and repatriation.
Step 5: Confirmation and documents
When the family approves, each element is confirmed: the aircraft and crew, the medical team, the ground ambulances at both ends, airport arrangements and the family’s own travel. Documents are collected at the same time. The documents guide lists what is usually needed.
Step 6: Transfer day
On the day, the medical team arrives at the sending hospital, receives a handover from the ward team, and prepares the patient for the journey. The ground ambulance takes the patient to the airport, often directly to the aircraft. After the flight, a second ambulance waits at the destination airport.
The family should know in advance at which points they will receive updates, and who will call them. Our guide on transfer day covers this in detail, and ground ambulances and airport coordination explains the road and airport legs.
Step 7: Handover at the receiving hospital
The transfer is complete when the receiving team has taken over clinical care, with a written handover from the transfer medical team. The coordinator confirms that the handover documents are complete and that the family knows who their contact is at the new hospital.
What the family can do to help
- Agree one family decision-maker, and tell the coordinator who it is.
- Keep the treating doctor’s contact details and the patient’s identity documents together.
- Ask for the plan in writing, and ask which parts are confirmed.
- Tell the coordinator about anything that matters to you, such as a relative who must travel with the patient.
If you are arranging a transfer now, call the coordination desk, which is staffed 24 hours. You can also start an enquiry.
