THE work of the airborne doctors on the Great North Air Ambulance is the focus of a new documentary series from Tyne Tees Television.

Flying Doctors was filmed over the summer and early autumn as the air ambulance attended emergencies across the North of England.

The film crew was given unique and unprecedented access, shadowing the team in a separate helicopter.

The air ambulance is the first in the country outside London to routinely carry doctors as well as paramedics.

The first programme sees chief pilot Graham Laverton, air support unit station officer Matthew Ward and paramedic Jon Ker attend a serious road accident, a head-on collision between a Land Rover and a Volvo, in County Durham.

Two of the four doctors chosen to join the air ambulance emergency crew feature in the opening programme.

Syed Masud, a 27-year-old major in the Royal Army Medical Corps, is the youngest of the four medics and said joining the air ambulance was fulfilling a dream for him.

"Ever since I was at medical school and saw the air ambulance take off from the roof of the Royal London Hospital, I knew that was what I wanted to do," he said.

Dr Scott McGregor, an anaesthetics registrar at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, said he had looked forward to joining the crew, but added he had never been in a helicopter and suffers from motion sickness.

Flying Doctors begins on Tuesday, at 7.30pm.

Published: 09/01/2004