Plans to build an air ambulance helipad at Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre have been put on hold for at least five years.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust was granted planning permission for the structure in March, after saying it would shorten journey times to accident and emergency for seriously injured patients.
The air ambulance currently has to land off site, and its patients complete their journey to the hospital by road ambulance.
Managers say the scheme, which would have seen the helipad built in a car park on the south side of QMC, is being altered and postponed because they now expect to build an entirely new emergency care centre which would have its own helipad.
Trust chief executive Peter Homa said: “As our plans to redevelop QMC in the years to come have progressed, an even better solution has emerged to build a helipad as part of a new urgent and emergency care centre development.
“The trust remains committed to having an onsite helipad at QMC to ensure our most critically-injured major trauma patients get the best possible clinical outcomes.
“Our future ambition is to build a new urgent and emergency care centre with a helipad that provides direct access to our Emergency Department.”
He added combining the two would mean the most severely injured patients get treatment even faster, and it could still be built “within five years” subject to Government funding.
The decision to delay has been backed by some patients and their families, including Billy Monger, 18, who was airlifted to the QMC after a crash in the British Formula Four Championship race at Donington Park earlier this year. He later had both legs amputated.
In a statement released by the hospital, Billy’s mum, Amanda, said: “It makes sense to wait for an even better solution for the helipad even if this is a number of years away.
“A helipad with direct access into the Emergency Department is clearly a better option as opposed to one which involves a transfer for major trauma patients for whom minutes matter.
“We will continue to support the future development linked to the Trust’s ambition to build a new urgent and emergency care centre at the hospital and look forward to hearing of its progress.”
Nottingham Hospitals Charity, which had been running a fundraising campaign for the former plan, is contacting donors, offering them the option of either supporting the new helipad plans, transferring their funds to support a different plan at the hospital’s East Midlands Major Trauma Centre, or have their donations returned.
Charity chief executive Barbara Cathcart said: “We recognise that donors may wish to see donations made to the Helipad Appeal have a much more immediate impact on patients at the hospital.
“For this reason we are working together to develop a special Nottingham Hospitals Charity-funded project to help enhance patient care within Nottingham’s incredibly busy emergency department.
“Should donors prefer that their donations be used only for the helipad project, they are being offered a full refund, which is understandable and their legal right. We hope all our supporters will understand we are complying with our statutory responsibilities to keep them informed, while offering them choices about how their donations are managed.”
She added the County Air Ambulance Trust has already agreed to transfer its own £1 million helipad funding for the old scheme to the new plan.
