THE WELSH ambulance service has joined Scotland in requesting military support to help combat their ongoing 'crisis'.
This request to the Welsh Government has been endorsed and will now be passed onto the Ministry of Defence, First Minister Mark Drakeford said.
He said: “Through the whole of the pandemic, every time we have received a request of that sort from the health service, we have always endorsed it.
“The Ministry of Defence look at it and they decide whether or not they are able to help.
“That will be the stage we will be at next, making sure that we make the best possible application to the Ministry of Defence and hoping that they will be able to offer us the help that they have offered us in very large measure during the course of the pandemic.”
READ MORE: Military support for ambulance service called in amid 'unacceptable' waiting times
This course of action comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that the Scottish Government is now looking to bring in military assistance to ease 'significant pressure' on waiting times.
The UK government gave the go-ahead for 225 military personnel to help the Scottish ambulance service and the Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday it will provide 114 people as drivers and a further 111 personnel who will operate mobile testing units.
Now the Welsh government will wait to receive the same confirmation and find out what sort of military working force they can expect to assist their own ambulance service.
Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace said the support for the ambulance services north of the border, shows the British armed forces' ‘versatility’.
He said: “Our armed forces are once again stepping up, demonstrating their versatility as we support the Covid-19 response across the UK.
"We are proud to work alongside the dedicated men and women at the Scottish ambulance service.”
The request given to the UK government by the Welsh First Minister comes after pressure from the Welsh conservative party as their leader Andrew RT Davies feared their government was ‘in denial’.
He said: “I am pleased, and I am sure people across Wales will be pleased, the First Minister and his colleagues have finally opened their eyes and realised that our ambulance service is in crisis and stretched ridiculously thin.
“I am pleased that the wheels are now in motion, as I was starting to think that this Welsh Government was in denial about just how much pressure the ambulance service is under.”
READ MORE: Anger as Glasgow father-of-three dies after 40-hour wait for ambulance
Similar comments were given to the Scottish Government from the conservative party as Douglas Ross pressed the First Minister to admit that the ambulance service "is in crisis" after hearing of ‘tragic and life threatening’ waits for ambulances.
It was followed by an apology by Ms Sturgeon, after the Herald reported a 65-year old man died after an ambulance waiting time of 40 hours.
The family of Gerard Brown, 65, say they have been told that the delay cost the former engineer his life and the case has been referred to the Procurator Fiscal and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
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