The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust has announced that additional tests are required on several window fixings across the top two floors of the Royal Sussex County Hospital’s Thomas Kemp Tower, where the helipad is situated, to “ensure their integrity.”
This decision follows a structural survey of the external windows of the 15-storey tower.
According to The Argus, the testing is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Originally slated to open in 2019, the £14 million landing pad faced delays due to concerns that helicopter landings could damage the building’s cladding.
The trust informed The Argus that the cladding was repaired last September, but “minor construction work” on the roof remains.
Repairs on the helipad, which is located above the Trevor Mann Baby Unit, began in February last year, four years after the cladding issue was identified.
Once the helipad construction is completed, the Civil Aviation Authority must give its approval before trial landings can commence.
A UHSussex spokeswoman stated: “We acknowledge that there have been significant delays in bringing the helipad into use and understand the disappointment this is causing. However, our commitment remains to open the facility as soon as it is safe to do so.
“Further structural survey work is being undertaken on the Thomas Kemp Tower, and we will work to confirm a new operational date after this work has been completed.”
Currently, air ambulances carrying patients are landing at East Brighton Park, approximately a mile away, and patients are then transported to the hospital by road ambulance.
Dr. Rob Haigh, chief medical officer for University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, said in March last year: “Being able to bring some of the most unwell and severely injured patients to the centre of the hospital by air ambulance has been a long-term goal, but the constrained nature of the site made this impossible until this point.
“As part of the redevelopment of the hospital, we can bring the helideck into use and provide a direct route for patients brought in by air ambulance to reach the services they need more quickly.”
