Campaigners fighting to save Caernarfon and Welshpool air ambulance bases have won the right to a full hearing in the High Court.

In July campaign groups ‘Save Welshpool Air Ambulance Base’ and ‘Save Caernarfon Air Ambulance’ confirmed that an application for a judicial review has been issued to the High Court.

They said the application had been made to challenge “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.”

In a statement about the judicial review application, they added: “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.”

The claim was brought by a local resident (referred to as the Claimant), who asked the court to quash the JCC’s decision to adopt the recommendations, and grant an injunction prohibiting the defendant health boards from taking steps to implement the recommendations.

“As campaign groups, we know the public, health boards, and clinicians in Mid and North Wales did not support the decision to close the Welshpool and Caernarfon bases,” the statement went on.

“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 decision to close the bases and relocate them on one site in Denbighshire was made in April despite vehement opposition to the recommendation.

Montgomeryshire MS Russell George said then: “The impact of this decision was hugely disappointing for us in mid Wales.

“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.’’

The High Court granted permission for the review on Wednesday, 9 October, prompting Mr George to call the decision “a burst of light in what has been a very worrying period”.

In Gwynedd, Tywyn-based campaigner Andy O’Regan welcomed the judicial review, and Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts and the area’s Senedd member, Mabon ap Gwynfor, called the High Court’s decision “a significant step forward in the fight to keep the air ambulance flying from Caernarfon and Welshpool”.

Glantwymyn county councillor Elwyn Vaughan said the fight goes on.

Russell George MS, Shadow Minister for Mid-Wales, said: “This news is a burst of light in what has been a very worrying period.

“The re-organisation of the Air Ambulance Service could leave people living in rural areas a few inches of rain away from being completely closed off from emergency care.

“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.”

Speaking for local campaigners in Gwynedd, Andy said: “The High Court’s permission for the case to proceed to a full hearing means the judge agrees the case is arguable.

“Our thanks go to the human rights and public law team at Watkins & Gunn who are acting on behalf of us campaigners.

“We believed the decision taken by the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee in April to close and centralise the Welshpool and Caernarfon Air Ambulance bases was fundamentally wrong, and as campaign groups in both areas, we have been working together to challenge the decision.

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

Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP and MS, Liz Saville Roberts and Mabon ap Gwynfor also welcomed the news.

They said: “This is a significant step forward in the fight to keep the air ambulance flying from Caernarfon and Welshpool, and testament to the resolve of all those involved in the campaign to safeguard a service that is dear to us all. Securing a Judicial Review is by no means an easy ask.

“We have far from been assured that the areas most at risk from plans to close both bases such as Pen Llŷn, south Meirionnydd, Ynys Môn, and mid Wales won’t be left with a slow-track and substandard service.

“It is not unreasonable therefore for people to have serious concerns that we will have a significantly inferior service with the closure of both Caernarfon and Welshpool sites.

“We remain steadfast in our view that both Caernarfon and Welshpool Air Ambulance bases must be retained as operational bases for the helicopters.”

Elwyn Vaughan Glantwymyn county councillor said: “Excellent news that the judge has allowed a judicial review case against the closure of Welshpool and Caernarfon air ambulance bases. We must continue to fight for our communities.”

In April, Wales Air Ambulance welcomed the decision to close Caernarfon and Welshpool saying NHS Wales’ decision to move forward with improvements to the service it provides would save even more lives across Wales.

An independent review of the charity’s NHS medical partners, the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS), identified that on average, there are two-three people every day in a life or limb-threatening situation who need the service, but who currently do not receive it (known as unmet need).

North Wales and the northern parts of mid Wales are disadvantaged at night, they said, as the service currently only has one overnight crew, based in Cardiff, covering the whole of Wales.

The service’s medical teams based in Welshpool and Caernarfon are underused.

The review sought to resolve these issues by examining the most effective and efficient way of delivering the service and looked at over 200 options over an 18-month period.

A charity spokesperson said their final recommended option would see a “major service improvement” with current crews and existing assets in Caernarfon and Welshpool coming together in a new base located in the middle of north Wales, near the A55.

“Reflecting demand in the regions, one crew will operate 8am until 8pm. A second crew will operate between 2pm and 2am. Alongside the current highly utilised resources in Dafen and Cardiff, clear evidence shows that this development would see improvements for all parts of Wales.”

Speaking on behalf of the charity’s trustees, Chief Executive Dr Sue Barnes said then: “The inequity is clear to see when we look at the number of incidents our service was unable to attend in Powys and North Wales, between the hours of 8pm and 2pm, during this 18-month review process. 310 incidents. That is not a hypothetical figure and these are not hypothetical cases. These are real patients with very serious and life-threatening conditions. Sadly, some of these patients will have died.”