Diolch, Llywydd, and very many thanks for allowing me to reply to this opposition debate.

I'd like to begin by placing on record that I recognise the invaluable partnership between the Wales Air Ambulance Charity and Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service Cymru, known as EMRTS, in saving lives and in optimising outcomes in Wales. The air ambulance service in Wales is making a huge difference across Wales. An evaluation of the service between 2015 and 2020 has highlighted an increased chance of survival, with a significant 37 per cent reduction in mortality after 30 days for patients with blunt trauma. Sixty-three per cent of patients had treatments at the scene of their incidents that previously they could only have had within a hospital. Forty-two per cent of patients bypassed local hospitals to be taken directly to specialist care, saving time for the patient and extras resources for the NHS. And 12 new consultants have been recruited into Wales, due to the attraction of working with Wales air ambulance.

Now, I'm aware that there has been confusion around the nature of service delivered by EMRTS in collaboration with the charity. To clarify, as Russell explained, the EMRTS team is employed by NHS Wales, which pays for EMRTS staff and medical equipment. This part of the service is commissioned by the emergency ambulance services committee, which is a joint committee of all the health boards in Wales. The charity provides the helicopters, the air bases, the rapid response vehicles, pilots, fuel and engineers. Now, EMRTS works with the charity to provide on-scene specialist critical care services to treat people with a life or limb-threatening injury that could lead to death or disability. On average, EMRTS responds within 50 minutes by air or 40 minutes by road. This is a highly specialist critical care service, not a substitute for emergency ambulance services. It's not a first-response service and, as Mabon explained, it takes the emergency department out to the patient.

Current service provision has four teams based at, as we've heard, Welshpool, Caernarfon, Llanelli and Cardiff. That happens during the day, with access to helicopters and rapid response vehicles. But, at night, there's one team, and that's based at Cardiff, with access to a helicopter and a rapid response vehicle. On average, 1,100 patient calls are reviewed by the EMRTS critical care hub each day. One hundred and forty of those calls are assessed in more detail, and approximately 13 will be assessed as suitable for an EMRTS response. But, under the current service model, only 10 patients receive an EMRTS response per day. So, there is therefore an opportunity for this specialist service to treat more patients every day in Wales. Now, the charity, EMRTS team and the emergency ambulance services committee are keen to increase the number of people seen, if possible, to ensure patients who need it can have access to this specialist service, no matter where they live in Wales or when they need it. I have no doubt every Member in this Chamber shares the aspiration to save more lives and to ensure EMRTS and the charity can treat more patients.

As I stated previously, there are four highly skilled teams in four bases covering the whole of Wales, but some are busier than others.