A legal challenge is being made to the closure of the Air Ambulance base in Welshpool.

An application has been made for a judicial review into the decision of the Welsh NHS’s Joint Commissioning Committee’s (JCC) decision to close the base back in May.

In a joint statement campaigners said: “As a group, we can confirm that an application for judicial review has been issued at the High Court.

“The application challenges the lawfulness of 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.

 “We were not prepared to accept the decision reached, and campaign teams in Mid and North Wales have been working together, along with others, and law firm Watkins and Gunn.”

OTHER NEWS: 

The application would not only challenge the decision but would potentially bring an injunction to halt any work being done by health boards to make the changes.  

The group added: “The claim has been brought by a local resident (referred to as the Claimant). The Claimant is asking the Court to quash the JCC’s decision to adopt the recommendations, as well as to grant an injunction prohibiting the Defendant health boards from taking steps to implement the recommendations.

 “As campaign groups, we know how the public, Health Boards, and clinicians in Mid and North Wales did not support the decision to close the Welshpool and Caernarfon bases. We believe that the work of the air ambulance in Mid and North Wales is vital in providing life-saving emergency treatment and ensuring rapid response times into emergency care.

“We continue to believe that swathes of Mid and North Wales will receive slower response times from the Wales Air Ambulance Service, and at times won't receive a timely critical care response at all if the proposed changes take place. We also continue to call on the Welsh Government to intervene and ensure both bases remain in operation.

The group made up of campaigners Cynthia and Clive Duce, Andy O’regan and Bob Benyon as well as Powys Councillors Elwyn Vaughan Joy Jones Graham Breeze and Amanda Jenner alongside Montgomeryshire MS Russell George.

"The impact of this decision was hugely disappointing for us in mid Wales," said Mr George

"The reconfiguration of Air Ambulance Critical Care services in Wales, from a point before any of us had heard of the proposal to close the bases, has been a process filled with bias, misinformation, and misdirection.

"A Judicial Review would allow a judge to re-evaluate the decision-making process and I believe it would bring much needed transparency and objectivity and examine to what extent the process delivered a predetermined outcome.

"Over the years, countless people have benefited from this life-saving service, and they have generously donated to and fundraised for it. I know that we all recognise the vital role that the Air Ambulance service plays in our area.

"The Welshpool Air Ambulance base should remain in operation."

The decision to close the base was highly controversial with the majority of the responses to the public consultation last year opposing the idea.

The proposal was also voted against by Powys Teaching Health Board.