A new hospital helideck will not open until autumn because cladding on the tower it sits on top of needs to be refixed so helicopters don’t blow it off.
The BBC revealed last month the reason for latest delay to the Royal Sussex County Hospital’s helideck is that surveys had found air ambulances could damage the Thomas Kemp tower.
The deck, which was originally scheduled to be operational from 2019, is part of a multi-million pound redevelopment of the Brighton hospital site.
Yesterday, (Monday, 14 February), residents at a hospital liaison group were told cladding is now being removed and refixed from the top ten metres of the tower and reattached with new brackets.
Hospital spokesperson Richard Beard said the process is happening “a few panels at a time” and will continue until the autumn.
The process is weather dependent, Mr Beard explained, as the builders work in cradles hanging off the 13-storey building, which can’t be used when winds are higher than 20-25 mph.
The autumn completion estimate allows for up to two and a half months of delays because of bad weather.
A two-and-a-half month allowance is included in the timeframe for when people cannot work in the cradles on the side of the 13-storey building in Eastern Road, Brighton.
He said:
“Once this is complete, we will have operational checks with the Civil Aviation Authority. They’ve already signed off on the structure of the helideck.
“We will then start trial landings and then using the helideck.”
Jackie Groves, assistant director of the 3Ts programme responsible for making the new buildings operational, said work is underway to organise the helideck safety crew and patient routes from the roof to the new facilities in the Louise Martindale building.
She said:
“The perception is the Thomas Kemp Tower and the new Louise Martindale building are very far apart from the outside.
“After an air ambulance arrives the patients drop down into the Thomas Kemp Tower and the new linkway across into the new building is very near.
“There is an opportunity to consider where to take someone – to the emergency CT scanner for someone coming off the helideck or straight into theatre in the Thomas Kemp, or maybe going to the new equipment in the new building.”
There will still be occasions when the air ambulance will land in East Brighton Park based on weather conditions.
The pilot will make any landing decision.
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