February 17, 2026 - 175 views
An update has been issued on the future of Wales’ air ambulance and rapid response service – a subject that has generated strong debate in North Wales over the past two years.
The latest discussion took place at the January 2026 meeting of the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (NWJCC), the body responsible for planning and funding certain specialist NHS services across Wales, including the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS).
EMRTS is the specialist critical care team that works alongside the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and the Wales Air Ambulance Charity. In simple terms, EMRTS provides hospital-level emergency treatment at the scene of serious incidents – such as major road collisions, cardiac arrests or severe trauma – particularly in rural, coastal and hard-to-reach parts of Wales.
While often referred to as the “air ambulance”, the service also operates by road. The charity provides the aircraft, pilots and bases, while NHS-employed doctors and critical care practitioners deliver the medical care.
The future configuration of the service has been controversial, particularly in North Wales.
In 2023 and 2024, proposals to change the number and location of air ambulance bases sparked significant concern, especially around the Caernarfon base. Campaigners argued that rural communities across Gwynedd, Ynys Môn and Conwy rely heavily on rapid air response because of long distances to major trauma centres.
A Judicial Review – a legal challenge asking a court to examine whether a public body acted lawfully – was launched, temporarily halting progress. With the legal process now concluded, the Joint Commissioning Committee has agreed to restart work on what is known as “Recommendation 4”, which focuses on ensuring that emergency ambulance services best meet the needs of communities across Wales, particularly remote rural and coastal areas.
Central to this is a review of the ambulance response model – the system used to decide how urgent a 999 call is, what type of help should be sent and how quickly that help needs to arrive. Historically, performance has often been measured against response times alone. However, under the new National Ambulance Performance Framework, the emphasis is shifting towards patient outcomes and clinical need rather than solely how fast a vehicle reaches the scene.
For communities in North Wales – where geography can mean long journeys to specialist hospitals in Bangor, Bodelwyddan, Stoke or Liverpool – how this balance is struck is particularly important.
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust is now carrying out a detailed review of how ambulance services operate in rural areas. Its findings will help shape updated proposals for Recommendation 4, which will form part of the NHS Wales Integrated Medium-Term Plan for 2026–2029, the three-year planning framework used to set priorities and allocate funding.
At the same time, the Wales Air Ambulance Charity is developing transition plans linked to the future of its current bases at Caernarfon and Welshpool. To maintain continuity of service, options such as temporary lease extensions are being explored while longer-term arrangements are considered. Further information is expected in February 2026.
Joint Committee members have reaffirmed their commitment to transparency and community engagement, stressing that no final decisions will be made until more detail is available on future base arrangements.
For now, NHS leaders say emergency cover remains in place across Wales. However, with North Wales covering vast rural areas, mountainous terrain and a long coastline, the outcome of this review will be closely watched by communities who see the air ambulance as a vital lifeline.
