Health minister urged to provide more funding to keep Welshpool Air Ambulance base
A mid Wales polititian has urged the nation's health minister to consider increased funding for the Air Ambulance Service amid fears Welshpool could lose its base for the life-saving service.
Member of the Senedd, Russell George, has asked the Eluned Morgan, to indicate her willingness to increase funding ahead of further options for the future of the service coming forward.
One of the major controversies of the original proposals from the The Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service which involves the Air Ambulance was the closure of the Welshpool and Caernarfon bases in favour of one close to the A55 a suggestion leading to huge protests.
Mr George asked the health minister if the Welsh Government would be willing to financially support the service if new proposals came forward that would propose keeping the original bases, whilst also adding additional bases in other areas of Wales.
"If a proposal came forward that retained the current bases with suggestions of further bases that were appropriate in other areas of Wales that would need a greater financial resource, would that be something that you'd be willing to consider," he said.
She replied: ‘‘We are not in a position to start committing to resources that are already difficult to find in the system. So, it will be difficult for me to do that. Obviously, I'll wait until I see what comes forward. If there's a good clinical case for it, then we'll have to obviously consider that.’’
Currently, the service is part funding by the Welsh Government, in an agreement between a service within the Welsh NHS and the Air Ambulance Charity.
Commenting after Senedd questions, Mr George said:
‘‘It was a huge surprise when proposals came forward last August to close bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon. The Wales Air Ambulance service is a greatly important service for us in mid Wales. We are told that the proposals to reconfigure services across Wales are not about cost savings, but it is also suggested that the service could be better and reach more people if base locations are changed."
Chief Ambulance Services Commissioner, Stephen Harrhy, is currently reviewing the proposals. He has emphasised that no decision has already been taken following the initial EMRTS Service Proposal in 2022.
The public engagement began in March 2023, and has focussed on listening to comments, queries and gathering of feedback on how to develop options to further improve the air ambulance service in Wales.
