FEW, if any, people in rural Wales do not know someone who, without the fantastic service offered by Wales Air Ambulance, might no longer be with us, and for many this includes close friends and family members, writes FUW president Glyn Roberts.

With slow NHS ambulance response times reported regularly in the press in recent years - including figures that show seriously ill people having to wait an average of nearly half-an-hour in some rural postcode areas - and many rural communities having lost local accident and emergency centres and seen services whittled away, the Welsh Air Ambulance is seen as filling a growing gap for the most seriously ill people in need of help in our rural and remote areas.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that farmers and rural residents across Wales have reacted with shock and worry to proposals to restructure Wales Air Ambulance services in a way which could lead to the closure of air ambulance bases at Welshpool and Caernarfon.

According to Wales Air Ambulance, a major review of its operations has identified possible benefits from the closure of its Welshpool base, the relocation of crews to North Wales and a possible move of the current North Wales base away from Dinas Dinlle, near Caernarfon.

The charity says that the plans would help it to run more life-saving missions, creating the capacity for an additional 583 missions across Wales each year, including an additional 26 more missions in Powys.

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Superficially, the figures would justify such a change, but as the charity has admitted, it seems counterintuitive that moving a base away from Wales’ rural heartland would benefit people in the area - and there are clearly many questions that need to be answered.

One of those relates to why the charity believes it would be able to fly so many more missions if the changes were implemented - is it because it would be moving its bases closer to areas of population where more people get sick or have accidents?

Or is it the result of the proposal to increase its coverage time by 50 per cent - from 12 hours to 18 hours?

Or a combination of both?

And while the capacity for missions may rise, how will the changes affect response times in areas such as Mid Wales if the nearest base has been moved much further away?

Figures released from the charity’s ‘efficiency analysis’ provide very little in terms of details that might answer such questions, while the headline figures suggest that many of the Welsh areas which might benefit the most from the proposed restructuring are those in more populated or accessible parts of Wales - places that are already close to major roads and motorways, and so may already benefit from better NHS ambulance response times and proximity to emergency care in big towns and cities.

Clearly the questions and concerns will keep coming, and it is essential that Wales Air Ambulance publishes all its analyses in full to allow informed discussions and scrutiny of the proposals.

The charity has already agreed to meet with the FUW to discuss our concerns, but irrespective of what decision is ultimately made we will remain indebted and eternally thankful to the charity and its staff for their work in saving lives across Wales’ communities.