NGH helipad scheme now gaining support
An emergency doctor and a senior air ambulance pilot have given their backing to the idea of establishing a helipad at Northampton General Hospital.
Dr John Trenfield, a consultant in emergency medicine at NGH, and Richard Craske, the chief pilot at Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, said land they had identified near the entrance to the A&E department, would be ideal for a landng site and would be a major boost to the hospital.
Currently, patients flown to NGH by helicopter are dropped off at a 'secondary' landing site that used to be the playing fields of the former Cliftonville Middle School. However, the delicate transfer by land ambulance can take 20 minutes.
And with only a 'trolley dash' from a helicopter to waiting doctors, it is estimated that up to 30 patients a year could benefit from having a helipad on the NGH site.
Mr Craske said: "Having a helipad so near to A&E would make a huge difference in terms of time.
"A purpose-built landing site would be more efficient and certainly a good development from my point of view."
Dr Trenfield said: "In trauma cases every minute counts and this could certainly save lives in terms of getting patients to A&E as well as save time transferring others from Northampton to specialist hospitals"
Dr Trenfield said the original idea was for a helipad on top of the A&E department, but that was deemed too costly as the building would have to be reinforced.
The issue resurfaced about a year ago and, helped by Michael Ellis, the Conservatives' prospective Parliamentary candidate for Northampton North, the scheme has gradually gained support.
Similar ground-level helipads have cost about 250,000 and, with forecast NHS cutbacks, it is unlikely NGH could fund it.
Mr Ellis said he hoped to persuade the business community to help out.
He said: "My cousin works for an air ambulance service and other family members work at NGH so I realise what an advantage a helipad could be for the town."
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Tributes paid to Niamh Curry as brave five-year-old loses battle against cancer
- BREAKING NEWS: Pensioner dies after collision at Northampton shopping centre
- Man tied to tree and beaten on Northampton Racecourse
- BREAKING NEWS: Woman’s body found after ‘suicide’ in Northampton hotel room
- BREAKING NEWS: Seven-year-old boy dies following house fire in Northamptonshire
- Northampton binmen at ‘breaking point’
- Staff strike at Northampton school over academy plans forces closure
- Saints’ stadium plans get support as long as traffic issues solved
- Eastern European pupils helping school standards across Northampton
- Exclusive: PM David Cameron says Northamptonshire Police Commissioner role is “a big job for a big local figure”
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northampton
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
