WQ92742 (e) Tabled on 07/05/2024

Will the Cabinet Secretary outline the evidence that supports her statement made in Plenary on 24 April 2024 during questions related to the air ambulance service, that three additional people a day could benefit from the changes who are currently not?

Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care | Answered on 14/05/2024

The Emergency Ambulance Services Committee ‘Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service Review Technical Document’, part of a suite of documents issued with the review’s final report, indicates that between 2-3 incidents per day in 2022 were triaged and assessed as appropriate for an EMRTS response but unfortunately no EMRTS resource was available to respond.

The decision by the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee to consolidate services at a new base from 2026 is considered by commissioners of the service, the Wales Air Ambulance Charity and the Clinical Director of the service to be a step in the right direction to reducing this unmet need, as was discussed at the Joint Commissioning Committee’s meeting of 23 April 2024.