UK’s HELP Appeal funds new helipad for Norfolk hospital

Funding has been confirmed for a replacement helipad at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King’s Lynn, eastern England, with construction progressing well on the new site.

The HELP Appeal – the UK’s only charity dedicated to funding National Health Service (NHS) hospital helipads – has donated £516,000 to cover the full cost of the new landing pad, which is being built across the road from the hospital. Planning permission has been approved, and the helipad is expected to be operational by the end of the year.

The relocation forms part of preparations for a new hospital under the NHS’s New Hospital Programme. The existing helipad site will be used for a multi-story car park, and the HELP Appeal’s funding ensures QEH retains this vital emergency facility.

Paul Brooks, QEH Director of Estates and Facilities, said: “Securing this funding is an exciting step forward for this project and it’s great to see the new site taking shape. We’d like to extend a big thank you to the HELP Appeal for their support and our colleagues in the air ambulance for their full backing. The new permanent relocation of our helipad is the beginning of the journey to a new QEH.”

He added that keeping the helipad close by would ensure “patients can continue to be transferred to the QEH Emergency Department for further care after landing in an air ambulance”.

HELP Appeal Chief Executive Robert Bertram said: “We are incredibly proud to be funding this project… The QEH helipad will play a vital role in saving lives by ensuring seriously ill patients can receive urgent care with minimal delay.”

Andrew Grady, Managing Director of Pentaco Construction, added that the company was “proud to contribute to infrastructure that supports lifesaving services and strengthens the region’s healthcare provision”.

Dorset County Hospital in southwest England recently received the final installment of a £2-million donation from the HELP Appeal for a new rooftop helipad.