Devastating news as Welshpool Air Ambulance base appeal fails
Campaigners launched the Review after the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee’s (JCC) decision to back Wales Air Ambulance plans to close both Welshpool and Caernarfon bases in favour of a central base in North East Wales.
Campaigners said that the data supporting the decision was flawed and that 40 Mid Wales communities would be hardest hit from the move.
But Mr Justice Turner, who presided over the hearing, is believed to have published his 71-page report this afternoon, confirming that the bases will close.
It has drawn another defiant response from the campaigners who response is in full below:
Statement from the Save Welshpool & Caernarfon Air Ambulance Bases group
“As a group we are extremely disappointed with the decision announced by Mr Justice Turner following three days of the Judicial Review hearing in Cardiff.
As supporters of the Wales Air Ambulance we were disappointed that this matter had to go as far as the courtroom but were left with very little option when faced with the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee’s (JCC) decision to adopt recommendations which would see changes to the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS), including the permanent closure of air ambulance bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon.
The judicial review claim was put forward by a resident of Mid Wales and we have been working with the legal team presenting the case, to give the claim our full backing.
We are satisfied that Mr Justice Turner listened to the arguments for and against the closure of the Mid and North Wales bases but are extremely disappointed with his determination.
From the outset we challenged the data, costings, and information which were being presented as facts. Members of the public were originally told that the proposed changes would not lead to a poorer service, but this was not correct. During the hearing we heard that 40 communities will receive a slower response time under the agreed decision.
We believe that the proposals to close the Air Ambulance’s bases in Welshpool and Caernarfon were based on flawed information, and that the process had been filled with bias, misinformation and misdirection. We were not asking for preferential treatment; we were asking for fairness. The people of Mid & North Wales deserve the same standard of care as those in urban areas.
We will now be meeting to discuss the decision and our next course of action, and as a campaign team we will continue to work with all involved to ensure the safety of residents across Wales.
We would like to register our thanks for the extremely professional way that our claim was presented by Ms Joanne Clements KC and for the work of colleagues at Watkins & Gunn. We also thank the many thousands of people who have offered their support for the campaign.
Signed:
Cynthia Duce
Clive Duce
Robert Benyon
Cllr Joy Jones
Russell George MS
Cllr Graham Breeze
Cllr Elwyn Vaughan
Cllr Amanda Jenner
Russell George MS
Andy O’Regan
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