Mooted plans to replace Wales Air Ambulance bases in Powys and Gwynedd with a single new home in Denbighshire have come under fire from politicians and residents, with a decision due to be taken in the new year. 

Wales currently has four air ambulance bases – in Welshpool, Caernarfon, Llanelli and Cardiff – but a suggested reorganisation would see the bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon replaced by a former North Wales Police helicopter base in Rhuddlan, Denbighshire. 

The proposals by the Welsh NHS Emergency Medical Retrieval and transfer Service (EMRTS) and the Wales Air Ambulance Charity have caused “widespread concern”, and led to calls for a formal public consultation to take place before any decision is reached. 

Wales Air Ambulance said the closure of the bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon would allow the services to be consolidated in a new “central north-Wales location close to the A55 (Denbighshire or Conwy)”. 

In a statement, the charity said the change would allow them to “offer different medical shifts operational from a central north-Wales location to cover mid and north Wales. One shift operating 8am to 8pm and another from 2pm to 2am (increasing coverage based in the region by six hours)”. 

The charity said that modelling showed the changes would allow it to potentially attend 583 more missions a year and go from meeting 72 per cent of demand to 88 per cent of demand. 

Montgomeryshire MS Russell George said “the service provided by the Wales Air Ambulance to the people of mid Wales and other areas of Wales is invaluable”, and “there is deep concern about how the proposals to move the Welshpool base will strengthen cover in mid Wales.”  

He has called for the release of the modelling data the charity used to reach its conclusion and a more formal wide-reaching consultation into the plans. 

“A formal consultation would mean there is a greater level of engagement and scrutiny of the proposals,” he said. 

Mr George and Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams have met with the charity to raise their and residents' concerns.  

The two politicians said that during the meeting, the Trust said that no formal decision has yet been made over the plans, and the charity was “committed to holding a consultation with residents and interested parties”.  

Mr Williams said he was disappointed by the plans: “With poor response times for road ambulances in Montgomeryshire, I am very concerned at the potential impact on people who are involved in severe accidents locally could be.” 

Welsh Liberal Democrat leader and Mid and West Wales MS, Jane Dodds called the Welshpool service “vital”. 

Welsh Government Health Minister Eluned Morgan, speaking in the Senedd, said: “I understand the strength of feeling on this, in particular in Montgomeryshire and in north Wales, where the air ambulance bases are based at the moment.  

“This is an independent charity. 

“I think what we’ve got to remember is there is an opportunity for consultation, and it is through the community health councils; they are the representatives, the spokespeople for the public, and so, what I would do is encourage people to make sure that they communicate and make their views known to the health councils and they then can engage with that presentation by the air ambulance service.” 

A series of meetings on the plans is being held as part of an independent process led by the chief ambulance service commissioner, but concerns have been raised that they are ‘secret’, with the Wales Air Ambulance charity inviting “selected people to gatherings across mid Wales over the next two weeks to explore the ‘future of our service delivery’”. 

The charity has made these sessions invitation-only and asked those invited ‘not to forward the invite’. 

Mr George said it was “disappointing” and “raises an element of confusion about the engagement process”, and called the timing of this exercise “questionable”.  

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts and MS Mabon ap Gwynfor said that while they “welcome plans to expand the flying hours of the air ambulance so that its availability to respond to medical emergencies is extended beyond daytime hours”, they “remain concerned that not enough data has been collated to allay concerns about the impact of centralising the service further away from rural communities in Gwynedd”.  

“This service is dear to us all and that is why urgent clarity is required as to how this proposed new arrangement will meet the specific needs of far-to-reach communities such as Pen Llŷn and south Meirionnydd, where timely access to emergency medical assistance is already compromised by the lack of sufficient ambulance cover,” they said in a joint statement. 

“Whilst figures indicate a potential seven per cent increase in patient coverage for Gwynedd, based on the service operating from one centralised location, we need to see an area-by-area breakdown of data as we remain unconvinced that capacity to treat more patients would apply equally to Barmouth compared to Bangor.” 

Powys county councillors as a whole agreed to fight to keep the Wales Air Ambulance base in Welshpool open during a meeting last month. 

A motion put forward by Plaid Cymru group leader, Cllr Elwyn Vaughan – who said he believed that the Wales Air Ambulance is set to relocate to a central base near Rhuddlan in north Wales – was backed by members, saying “we should fight tooth and nail for it”. 

Cllr Vaughan, who represents the Glantwymyn ward, said: “Our communities in Powys, and the lives of our residents are just as important as those of people living in urban parts of Wales. 

“At the end of the day, the whole purpose of the air ambulance is supposed to be serving the most rural parts of Wales.” 

Wales Air Ambulance chief executive Dr Sue Barnes said: “For people in Powys, it may seem counterintuitive that us moving away from their county would bring any benefits. 

“But that is what our analysis is strongly conveying, and it’s important to remember that we go to the patient, the patient doesn’t come to us. 

“There is strong evidence that says every part of Wales will benefit from the proposed changes. 

“This is a complex analysis but with clear results.  

“We wholeheartedly welcome, and encourage, anybody who has a question to contact us directly so can we can offer more information on these findings.” 

David Gilbert, the charity’s chair of trustees, said that while the process of engaging with key stakeholders had begun, “it’s fair to say that any potential changes would not happen for some time”. 

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