Today (26th October) we are celebrating 10 years of the helipad at King’s College Hospital, a facility that has helped strengthen the rapid transfer of critically injured and seriously ill patients from across Kent, Surrey and Sussex to specialist care.
Since opening in October 2016, the helipad has provided direct access for us to one of the region’s leading Major Trauma Centres, enabling patients to be transferred quickly from our helicopters to the specialist teams waiting to treat them. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it remains London’s only fully operational hospital helipad with round-the-clock access.
For us, the helipad has become an important part of the patient pathway. As the designated Major Trauma Centre for South-East London, Kent and Medway, King’s College Hospital provides specialist services that are not available elsewhere in the region, including complex trauma care, advanced neurosurgical services and specialist critical care.
Every year, we transfer patients to King’s who require urgent access to this expertise. For those treated in some of the most challenging circumstances, reducing the time taken to reach definitive care can make a significant difference.
A patient can be flown from the furthest reaches of the Kent coast to King’s College Hospital in around 25 minutes, compared with a journey of more than two hours by road.
Dr Duncan Bootland, Executive Medical Director at KSS, said:
“For more than 15 years, King’s College Hospital has played a vital role in the care of our most seriously ill and injured patients, particularly those from Kent who require access to specialist major trauma services. The close partnership between KSS and King’s means patients can be taken directly to expert teams when every second counts.
“For the past 10 years, the King’s helipad has further strengthened that partnership, helping to ensure patients reach specialist care as quickly as possible and giving them the very best chance of survival and recovery.”
The helipad, which opened on 26 October 2016, has supported more than 2,300 patient transfers, including hundreds taking place overnight. Its rooftop location provides direct access to trauma and critical care teams via dedicated lifts, helping minimise delays in treatment for patients arriving by air.
As we reflect on a decade of the helipad, we also celebrate the continued partnership between pre-hospital emergency medicine teams and specialist hospital services, ensuring patients receive the right care, in the right place, as quickly as possible.
Every day, our crews work alongside NHS and hospital colleagues across the region to deliver advanced emergency care and transfer patients to the specialist centres best placed to meet their needs. The King’s College Hospital helipad remains a key part of that network, helping ensure lifesaving care is never far away when it matters most.
