Service Improvement

You may have heard about a recent review of the air ambulance service in Wales.

Here you can find information and resources to keep you up to date with the work we will be doing over the next two years to improve our service and inevitably save more lives.

The review highlighted how we are unable to get to between 2 or 3 patients a day and that our service is not being delivered in the most effective way. It is vital to address the issue of unmet need.

You probably have so many questions about what is going to happen next. We hope this space will provide you with those answers, offer reassurance and give you the opportunity to find out more about the work we do. 

About the Improvement

You may have heard about a recent review of the air ambulance service in Wales. We hope this information will help you to  understand more about an improvement to our service which will save more lives in your community and across Wales.

An independent Review of our NHS partners revealed that there are opportunities to improve our service for patients across Wales. It was led by the Chief Ambulance Services Commissioner for Wales.

The Review found that:

  • Right now, we are not getting to around 2 to 3 people a day. These patients will be in a life or limb-threatening situation.
  • People in northern parts of Mid Wales and North Wales do not have a localised air ambulance service overnight. They rely on a nighttime service from South Wales.
  • The service’s highly skilled medical teams based in Welshpool and Caernarfon are underused.

An NHS Wales committee called the Joint Commissioning Committee agreed that improvements should be made to the current air ambulance service in Wales.

What will the improvement look like? 

In April 2024, the Joint Commissioning Committee agreed that the following changes should be made:

  • The current resources in Caernarfon and Welshpool should come together in one base location in the middle of North Wales, near the A55.
  • Two teams who can respond by road or air will operate from the new base. To meet the pattern of demand, one team will operate between 8am and 8pm and another team will operate between 2pm and 2am.

This means two crews, two aircraft, and two rapid response vehicles - the same resources currently deployed in Mid and North-West Wales - will operate but they will be able to save more lives through a change in the way they operate.

How will this improve the air ambulance service?

  • We can attend more patients. This means more lives will be saved.
  • Northern parts of Mid Wales and North Wales will get an overnight service closer to them, rather than relying solely on the current single overnight crew based in Cardiff.
  • We are making better use of our resources and using your generous donations more effectively to benefit more people.
Manage Cookie Preferences