The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital’s helipad in Glasgow has seen 692 landings over the past three years, made possible in part, by charity HELP (Helicopter Emergency Landing Pads).

That’s an average of 230 landings every year from the Scottish Air Ambulance and Coastguard services. The average number of landings every week has also risen from three to four in comparison to when the helipad was two years old.

The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital is a 1,677 bed acute hospital located in Govan in the south-west of Glasgow. The hospital comprises a newly built 1,109 bed adult hospital, a 256 bed children’s hospital and two major A&E departments, one for adults and one for children in addition to buildings retained from the former hospital. It is the largest hospital campus in Europe. It is also the largest single site employer in Scotland, the second being Faslane naval base.

“Between April 2017 and April 2018, 265 patients were flown to the hospital, the majority of whom were adults and required resuscitation.”

There were also 39 children flown to the hospital for a range of conditions including major trauma which required intensive care treatment.

The rooftop helipad became operational in 2015 and enables patients across Scotland with critical illnesses or injuries to be flown directly to the hospital to receive immediate lifesaving treatment.

The HELP Appeal – the only charity in the country dedicated to funding hospital helipads and relies entirely on public donations – contributed a total of £700,000 to help fund the helipad.

Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal, said: “Everyone is aware of the vital roles that hospitals and air ambulances play in treating a critically ill patient, but having a helipad beside the emergency department can play a significant part too as it saves time when transporting a patient to the expert care they need to save their lives. This is why we felt compelled to get involved and help the hospital as we knew the difference having it onsite would make.

“The support of the air ambulances and the excellent emergency care team at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital – this incredible team of helicopters, helipad and hospital doctors – has made a huge difference to people in Scotland, who may urgently need a blood transfusion, CT scan or any other life-saving treatment after suffering a critical illness or injury.”