THE WELSH Ambulance Service has been given £34 million in extra funding to help ease Covid and winter pressures.

This includes £11 million to extend military support for ambulances until the end of March – with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today announcing that an additional 184 armed forces personnel will be made available as drivers to support the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust from January 4.

Just under half of the funding will be used to replace emergency vehicles across the Welsh Ambulance Service fleet.

£15 million will be spend on replacing 39 replacement emergency ambulances, 12 new emergency ambulances and 23 rapid response vehicles.

And more than £8 million has been made available to support emergency ambulance services and non-emergency patient transport services.

This includes £5 million for the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust – which will see 36 additional frontline ambulance clinicians recruited, extra resources to co-ordinate the response to pressures in the urgent and emergency care system, and an ambulance depot in the Swansea Bay region.

A quarter of that £8 million will be used to fund non-emergency patient transport services and the recruitment of mental health practitioners to support people with mental health issues over the phone.

And the remainder of that £8 million funding will be spend on supporting mental health patients through a transport pilot delivered by St John Cymru Wales.

Health minister Eluned Morgan said: “Ambulance services and staff in Wales are under great strain due to the impact of the pandemic and winter pressures.

“We are determined to support the NHS – and all its staff – in every way we can. Investing in the ambulance service shows our commitment to ensuring people can access high-quality emergency care when they need it the most.

“Ambulance clinicians and staff have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. I want to thank them for everything they have done to care for people.”

Jason Killens, chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust, said: “Winter is traditionally our busiest period, and when you factor in the pandemic and its record levels of demand and staff absence, we have to redouble our efforts to provide a safe service to the people of Wales.

“The trust and its partners are working hard to find long-term and sustainable solutions to the issues across the entire health and social care system, but in the meantime, we have to look at short-term measures to bolster our capacity as best we can.”