A new helipad at Ipswich Hospital that will allow critically ill patients to receive life-saving care quicker has welcomed its first air ambulance.
The £250,000 facility has officially opened next to A&E on the site of the former Bridge School and has been fully funded by the HELP Appeal charity.
The helipad will enable air ambulance teams to transfer patients to the emergency room at Ipswich Hospital or other specialist centres much faster.
Previously, it took up to 15 minutes to reach A&E from the hospital’s old landing spot in the field of Copleston High School.
The facility also has built-in lighting, which means helicopters can land in the hours of the darkness for the first time.
Dr Neil Berry, consultant anaesthetist at Ipswich Hospital and East Anglian Air Ambulance, spearheaded the project.
“This goes back a few years now when I heard Nick Hulme, our chief exec, was thinking about purchasing this land where the school was,” he said.
“I had been pestering him for a helipad so I went and pestered him again and to Nick’s great credit he is always listening and from then on it’s been made to happen.”
He added: “You can never pin anything on one piece of equipment or one person but I actually believe that this will save lives in the future.
“Minutes sometimes do matter and I will be very surprised if we can’t attribute those minutes to this helipad and the saving of lives in the future.
“It’s a proud moment for both Ipswich Hospital and the air ambulance. It’s a nice feeling to see we are always progressing and it’s nice to think patients are going to get the timely treatment that they need.”
Ipswich Hospital boss Nick Hulme said this was a great example of charities helping to support the NHS with improvements that “frankly we can’t afford to do ourselves”.
He added: “This is one of the only helipads in the East of England that has completely unrestricted landing so it can land at any time night or day and therefore we can open the A&E department for critically ill patients who need to be seen in that golden hour – that first hour after a stroke or major trauma.”
Robert Bertram, chief executive of the HELP Appeal, said this was the 21st helipad the charity had funded.
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