Updated: November 2024
There is welcome news in the fight to challenge the decision that would lead to the closure of the Welshpool Air Ambulance base. The campaign to save the base that serves mid Wales continues.
As campaigners, we believe that the decision taken by the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (JCC) in April 2024 to close and centralise the Welshpool and Caernarfon Air Ambulance bases was fundamentally wrong. As a campaign group, we have been working together to challenge this decision.
The JCC is composed of CEOs from Welsh Health Boards and other independent members. Despite strong opposition from residents in mid and north Wales, most Welsh Health Boards voted in favour of these plans, with only Powys Teaching Health Board and Betsi Cadwaladr in north Wales opposing them. This was hugely disappointing.
The work of the air ambulance in mid and north Wales is vital for providing life-saving emergency treatment and ensuring rapid response times to emergency care facilities. As a campaign team, we continue to believe that large parts of mid and north Wales will experience slower response times from the Wales Air Ambulance Service, and at times won’t receive a timely critical care response at all if the proposed changes proceed.
An application for judicial review was submitted to the High Court in July 2024. The application challenged the lawfulness of the JCC’s decision to adopt recommendations that would lead to changes in the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS), including the permanent closure of Air Ambulance bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon.
In October 2024, the High Court granted permission for the case to proceed to a full hearing, indicating that the judge agreed the case is arguable. This was very welcome news. The Human Rights and Public Law team at Watkins & Gunn are acting on behalf of campaigners across mid and north Wales.
The reconfiguration of Air Ambulance Critical Care services in Wales, from the outset of the proposal to close the bases, has been a process filled with bias, misinformation, and misdirection. Now that the High Court has granted permission for the case to proceed to a full hearing, a judge will be able to re-evaluate the decision-making process. I believe this will bring much-needed transparency and objectivity, examining to what extent the process led to a predetermined outcome.
We continue to reject the decision reached, and campaign teams in mid and north Wales will continue to work together, along with others and the law firm Watkins & Gunn.
As part of its decision, the JCC also recommended implementing a ‘special emergency road service’ using Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs) as an alternative. Not only would this option be deeply unsatisfactory and inadequate for a rural area like Montgomeryshire, but there is also no detail on how this would operate or be funded. One extreme weather event or road closure could severely impact the ability of RRVs to reach patients in need. Despite the JCC’s agreement in April to deliver a detailed implementation plan by the end of September 2024, no information has yet been published.
Over the years, countless residents have benefited from this life-saving service and have generously donated to and fundraised for it. We all recognise the vital role that the Air Ambulance service plays in our area.
Following the decision, I have continued to raise this issue in the Senedd, as I firmly believe the Welsh Government, who are ultimately responsible, should intervene, and that the proposals should be called in for a decision by Welsh Government Ministers.
My thanks go to supporters for their determination in seeing this through to a positive outcome. I also thank the Health Boards, clinicians, and other health professionals who have challenged or spoken out against the decision. I still hope decision-makers will reconsider and work to regain the trust of rural Welsh communities without the need for a judicial mandate.