Plymouth: £2M For New Helipad

24 September 2014, 07:36 | Updated: 24 September 2014, 08:01

Devon and Cornwall's air ambulances will soon be able to land at night at a brand new helipad.

£1.7 million pounds worth of funding has been agreed for a purpose-built helipad, which will be in operation by Summer 2015. 

At the moment helicopters have to land during the day on a patch of grass at Plymouth's Derriford hospital. 

At night Search and Rescue helicopters land at Marjons or on Plymouth's Hoe - But that means transporting them via land ambulance and wasting valuable minutes during the golden hour. 

The announcement comes after years of work by the hospital Trust and external stakeholders including Cornwall Air Ambulance, the national HELP Appeal and Devon Air Ambulance

Cornwall Air Ambulance and representatives from the hospital Trust took the appeal to Westminster in June 2014 at the Association of Air Ambulance's All Party Parliamentary Group Reception, where the campaign received support from all of Cornwall's MPs. 

With the arrival of its new night-capable aircraft in December 2014 Cornwall Air Ambulance will be able to extend its operations into the hours of darkness, making full use of the new helipad facilities at Derriford.