Contact/Cyswllt:  Sian Cliff
02920 898342 / sian.cliff@wales.gov.uk

Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates has warmly welcomed the commitment by the Minister for Health, Edwina Hart, to invest £337,000 into the Air Ambulance this year.

The Minister for Health and Social Services today announced the funding, which is to be given on a non-recurrent basis and is intended to stabilise the Air Ambulance service. In return the Minister demands a full review of the Air Ambulance service, to be completed before the end of this calendar year. The review will be used to inform any decisions about future funding for the service.

Commenting Mick Bates AM said:

“I am pleased to see this much needed support for the Air Ambulance Service. Rural areas in Wales face many different challenges to urban areas and in Montgomeryshire we do not even have the privilege of a general hospital with an accident and emergency department.

“Mid Wales presents a particular challenge for the Ambulance Service with a dispersed population and poor infrastructure, which makes for lengthy journeys to reach those in need. I have constituents in critical conditions who have been forced to wait over an hour for a land ambulance to arrive – clearly this is unacceptable!

“The Ambulance Service in Montgomeryshire is understaffed does not have the capacity to provide sufficient cover for those in need of life saving services. It is often the case that the voluntary funded County Air Ambulance has to step in and help – clearly the Air Ambulance is critical in providing the much needed support where the land ambulance struggles to cope with demand and respond with sufficient speed.

“Population call-outs may be low in my area, but this is no excuse to neglect the people of Mid Wales. It is crucial that we see more support for a realistic ambulance service in Montgomeryshire. I welcome this investment in the Air Ambulance which provides a vital service in Mid Wales, however we need a visionary, well funded and effective approach to the delivery of health services in Powys if we are to secure a successful emergency service for the future.”


End / Diwedd