HELP Appeal marks 26,000 landings on its helipads

The HELP Appeal has announced there have been 26,000 landings on the 25 new hospital helipads it has funded across the UK since its creation in 2009.

It has also upgraded an additional 20 hospital helipads thanks to its supporters.

The charity has most recently funded new helipads in Manchester and Scarborough, and upgrades to helipads in Coventry and Peterborough.

It is also currently funding new hospital helipads in Salford, Brighton, Mull, Dorchester, Bangor (Wales), Worcester and Sheffield.

As wells as helipads, the HELP Appeal has funded both deck integrated firefighting systems (DIFFS) and weather stations across the country.

“It’s been 14 years since the HELP Appeal was created and our work is as vital now as it was before,” said Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal. “As the only charity in the country funding hospital helipads, we are helping to eradicate secondary transfers and we won’t stop until they are no longer needed. This is hugely important because it is clinically proven there are risks to patients who, after landing in an air ambulance, have to complete their journey to [the emergency department] by road ambulance when there is no helipad at the hospital.”