Air ambulance fully operational after admin error

An air ambulance is "fully operational" again after being grounded over an administrative error.

The Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance (LNAA) was stood down on 31 January after the charity failed to meet a deadline for renewing a controlled drugs licence.

The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), which dispatches the helicopter, confirmed the licence had now been renewed and the service was back to normal.

Karen Jobling, the chief executive of LNAA, previously said she was "deeply sorry" for the "paperwork error".

Ms Jobling has launched an internal investigation into why the licence was not renewed on time.

"This is an admin error. They do occur. It's regrettable," she said.

When the error came to light, EMAS decided to stop deploying the ambulance because of a "higher risk to patient safety" without a "supply of appropriate controlled drugs".

A partial service was resumed on 7 February to "support the provision of clinical care" while the service waited for the drugs licence to be renewed.

Ben Holdaway, the director of operations at EMAS, said LNAA received confirmation of the renewal of the licence from the Home Office on Tuesday.

"They were fully operational from 19:30 hours," he added.

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