WORK is set to get underway on a new £1.24million helipad at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
The new raised helipad, which will be next to Worcestershire Oncology Centre, will be closer to the Accident and Emergency department, enabling faster transfer of critically ill patients into the department using electric trolleys instead of an ambulance.
The relocation will also help to ease traffic congestion, as cars driving around the site will not be disrupted when the Air Ambulance lands and takes off from its present site.
Additional car parking will also be created – both on land vacated by the current helipad, and underneath the new raised platform.
Work on the facility, which is expected to be completed within 12 months, has been funded by the HELP Appeal (Helicopter Emergency Landing Pads) whose chief executive, Robert Bertram, visited the hospital this week to hand over a cheque for £625,000 – the first of two instalments.
Michelle McKay, chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are delighted that we’ve got the go ahead for a new helipad and we would like to thank the HELP Appeal which is enabling this work to be carried out.”
Mr Bertram added: “Helipads save time and save lives. It’s as simple as that.
“After learning that the Worcestershire Royal Hospital could build a helipad closer to its emergency department – reducing the time it takes to transfer a critically ill patient to the specialist care they urgently need – we wanted to make it happen for them as quickly as possible, so we agreed to cover the entire cost.”
The HELP Appeal aims to significantly increase the number of onsite hospital helipads at major trauma centres and A&E hospitals through its HELP Appeal grant scheme which offers non-repayable grants to hospitals to help fund new helipads or upgrade existing helipads.
It relies solely on charitable donations. To donate visit www.helpappeal.org.uk/support-us/
