A planning application has been submitted to Nottingham City Council for a helipad on stilts in one of the hospital’s car parks.
If accepted, the helipad will sit within Curie Court car park, close to Clifton Boulevard at the south eastern end of the QMC, which used to be occupied by nurses accommodation.
A walkway, stretcher store and new caged generator are part of the plans which also propose changing the existing car park by moving the exit barrier to a new location to allow for a priority entrance for ambulances.
Air ambulances currently land on the Highfield’s sports pitches nearly 2 and a half kilometres away with patients then being transferred by ambulance down University Boulevard which is often congested with traffic.
The helipad will cost £3.2 million with £2.5 million raised by Nottingham Hospitals Charity and a £700,000 contribution from Nottingham University Hospitals Trust (NUH), the Trust that is responsible for services at the QMC.
Andrew Chatten, Director of Estates and Facilities at NUH, said: “Subject to planning permission and other necessary approvals, it is hoped the helipad will be operational in 2018.
“We are developing plans for an onsite, raised deck helipad at QMC to support the East Midlands Major Trauma Centre, where the most critically injured patients receive their care.
“Thank you to the Nottingham Hospitals Charity and County Air Ambulance for providing the funds for this important project.
“The possibility of developing a multi-storey car park at QMC to make way for the first phase of the Medipark development on land we use for car parking was considered, however, feasibility studies concluded in 2015 that this option was not viable.”
