Decision due on air ambulance plans to relocate Welsh bases

Air Ambulance workers at Welshpool's base getting out of the helicopter after a mission.

Wales Air Ambulance's plans to relocate two bases has led to fierce criticism over the proposals.

The plans could lead to the closure of both the Welshpool and Caernarfon bases, with the new site rumoured to be in Denbighshire.

Many Welsh residents worry that this relocation could prevent the air ambulance from achieving their mission statement of "serving Wales, saving lives".

But the Wales Air Ambulance say the service "is there for communities across the country, now and always."

They say that on average two or three people a day need this service but aren't getting it and as a result they have to act.

They also say most of the unmet need is in North Wales.

Lexie Davies says her son, Harry, owes his life to the Wales Air Ambulance.

Lexie Davies is the mother of a child whose life was saved by Wales Air Ambulance Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

Harry and two other schoolboys were badly injured after being hit by a bus near their school in Welshpool in May 2022.

All three have now recovered but the air ambulance's speed and medical expertise at the scene has won the everlasting gratitude of their parents and the community.

Lexie knows the value of the Wales Air ambulance and passionately wants it kept in Mid Wales.

She said: "We had the phone call and we drove straight down to the school.

"They were already there looking after these little boys and there's no other way that this could have happened.

"There's no way an ambulance would have got there in that time. It's like you've got somebody standing behind you saying 'if something happens, we're there.'"

The proposals by the Wales Air Ambulance to relocate their bases have gone out to widespread consultation and been independently reviewed but the response has been fiercely negative.

Russell George, a Conservative MS for Montgomeryshire says the Welshpool base "cannot close".

Russell George, Conservative MS for Montgomeryshire, says the Welshpool base "cannot close". Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

He says the closures would be "detrimental to the people of Mid Wales."

"It would add longer times for the Air Ambulance to get to rural parts of Mid Wales. We haven't got a district general hospital and all the more reason for why we should keep the Welshpool base here in mid Wales."

Bob Beynon, a local campaigner, also boldly opposes the relocation.

Local resident Bob Beynon says Welshpool's Air Ambulance base is an "iconic figure". Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

He said: "The Air Ambulance here in Welshpool, it's like an iconic figure, it's like our protector of rural health and we see that as a red line.

"As a public relations exercise this must be seen as a major disaster for the Air Ambulance charity".

On Thursday, representatives of the seven health boards in Wales will consider this final report and its recommendations.

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