3. Will the First Minister make a statement on improving ambulance transfers in Wales? OAQ54941

I thank the Member. The health Minister published a written statement on 15 January setting out steps further to improve ambulance services in Wales, including transfers between ambulances and receiving hospital departments.

Thank you, Minister. The Wales Air Ambulance charity had its busiest year in 2019, its hard-working team responding to 3,627 emergency calls—up 1,200 from 2018. The aircraft can travel over 2 miles per minute and reach anywhere in Wales within 20 minutes. Now, the effectiveness of reaching, treating and transporting patients is clear, so I now support the air ambulance's aim for it to become a 24-hour service. David Gilbert OBE, chairman of the trust, has said:

'with the help of the Welsh public, we want to make our vision of providing a 24-hour service a reality'.

An extra £1.5 million is required for this. What steps could you as a Welsh Government take to help make a 24-hour air ambulance service a reality?

I thank the Member for that, and just want to say how much I share the positive view that she has expressed of the Wales Air Ambulance, the fantastic work that it does. The air ambulance has always been very clear with us as a Government that it doesn't want public money directly paid to it, because it thinks it would compromise its ability to raise money from the public, which it does year in and year out in such a fantastic way, with so many committed volunteers.

We support the charity in other ways. We do support it by training, particularly the paramedics that it employs. We support it through the EMRTS service, the emergency medical retrieval services that work closely with it, and we certainly support the work of the Wales Air Ambulance by explaining to people the fantastic work that it does, how making it a 24-hour service will allow it to do even more in future, supporting it in the different places in Wales from where it operates, and making it clear to people in Wales that it has the full support of the Welsh Government in its work and in its ambition.