Plans to temporarily relocate the helipad at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn (QEH) are moving forward at pace, with work due to commence to prepare the new site in January 2024.
In October the Trust received news that their planning application to relocate this essential facility had been approved by the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk.
This move is an exciting step forward in the journey to a new hospital for King’s Lynn and West Norfolk after it was announced at the end of May that QEH has been added to the Government’s New Hospital Programme.
The helipad is currently situated on the top end of the hospital site and is a well-used resource. Under new plans it will be temporarily relocated to farmland to the east of the hospital on the opposite side of the road along the B1145 and should be operational in summer 2024.
Patients who are airlifted to the temporary helipad will be conveyed by a waiting ambulance to the emergency department.
The helipad relocation, alongside the construction of a multi-storey car park, both pave the way for a New QEH building – with rooftop helipad – to go up on the hospital’s current main car park
Paul Brooks, Director of Estates and Facilities, said: “Work commencing on our new temporary helipad is a real milestone in our journey towards bringing a state-of-the-art hospital to King’s Lynn. This is a vital resource for our hospital and this relocation to a nearby site will allow us to progress plans for our new hospital whilst still ensuring patient safety and quality of care. My personal thanks for the support of local landowners who have made this possible
“We are working with key partners invested in this area to ensure this relocation works for all involved.”
Richard Hindson, Director of Operations and Infrastructure at East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) said: “The helipad at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is of huge importance to EAAA’s 24/7 life-saving operations in the region. It enables EAAA crews to transfer critically ill and injured patients to the hospital for further treatment.
As a charity, we are working hard on the development of a strategic helipad infrastructure in the region. The new helipad at QEH supports that vision, and EAAA expects to use the new helipad around 100 times every year. It is great to work in partnership with the QEH to achieve this for the benefit of our patients and the communities we are proud to serve.”
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Notes to editors;
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