GOLDEN JUBILEE IS ONE OF SCOTTISH HOSPITALS WHERE HELICOPTER LANDINGS HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED

The UK’s coastguard search and rescue helicopter service has suspended landings at most of Scotland’s hospital helipads because of safety concerns.

The Golden Jubilee in West Dunbartonshire is just one of them and is one of the busiest with 20 landings over a two-year period – mostly carrying patients with heart conditions in which the Dalmuir hospital specialises.

The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital has been cleared for landings  following a safety review ordered after a woman died in an accident in Devon in March 2022.

The 87-year-old was walking through a hospital car park close to the helipad when she was blown over and injured while a helicopter was landing.

Bristow’s UK-wide move affects 23 Scottish sites, including helipads for hospitals in Aberdeen, Dumfries, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The Golden Jubilee in West Dunbartonshire and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and the Royal Children’s Hospital campus which has a helipad on the roof.

The busiest affected sites in Scotland are:

Other locations, but where there were no coastguard landings in the timescale involved, are in Arran (Knockenkelly and Ormidale), Barra, Skye, Fort William, Kilmarnock, Melrose, Millport, Moffat, Mull, Oban, Rothesay and Stranraer.

Ten Scottish hospital helicopter landing sites (HHLS) meet recommendations made by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) and recently issued Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations.

But safe zones for the coastguard’s large helicopters need to be extended to protect people from the risk of “downwash” from the machines’ engines.

NHS National Services Scotland has distributed the safety notice, external.  Bristow said safety was its priority and its operational guidelines were set by the CAA.

A spokesperson said: “Management of these sites is the legal responsibility of the NHS trusts [and health boards].  We continue to work with all NHS trusts to ensure continued safe operations within CAA guidelines at all sites.”

The Scottish government said Scottish Air Ambulance and charity air ambulances could still land at all Scotland’s helipads.

A spokesperson said: “The limited recommendations applicable to Scottish sites are being acted on by NHS Scotland, and we expect wider recommendations are being acted on across the rest of the UK.

“Health boards in Scotland have reported no issues with the transport or care of patients while this action takes place.”