SOUTHAMPTON is to finally get its own emergency helipad – on the roof of a hospital car park, the Daily Echo can reveal.
Health chiefs say it will save lives as critically ill patients will be flown direct to Southampton General Hospital for vital medical treatment.
Currently Hampshire’s air ambulance has to land on a council playing field two miles away in Lordshill, with patients then taken by ambulance to the site.
The situation has been dogged by problems, with youths blocking the landing area, locked gates and delays of up to 30 minutes in getting sick people to hospital.
Bosses say the need for the helipad is now “urgent” and have submitted plans for the landing site – which can also be used by police, coastguard and the Army – to council chiefs who are expected to make a decision in coming weeks.
The plan, for the top of the multi-storey car park, will cost £1.2m and will be paid for by Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust (SUHT).
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