£700,000 hospital helipad unused due to lack of lights

A STATE-OF-THE-ART £700,000 hospital helipad has never been used despite opening more than a year ago – because it doesn’t have enough lights.

The helipad at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil was built for emergency night-time take-offs and landings by rescue helicopters.

It was due to start having emergency flights in March last year – but more than a year later the pad has still not been used for one flight.

Experts say there are health and safety fears because the helipad did not have enough lights on it for the night-time emergencies.

Installation was completed in March 2017 and it was hailed by Welsh Government Health Secretary Vaughan Gething as helping to “ensure those critically-ill patients who need care as fast as possible, by air, day or night, can get that care”.

Mr Gething said: “This is all part of our ongoing commitment to delivering a modern and effective health service that the people of Wales deserve.”

The helipad next to the Emergency Care Centre was built to receive critically-ill patients 24 hours a day.

Emergency helicopters are still using the hospital’s old helipad – with patients being transferred by ambulance to the hospital building. But it cannot be used in darkness at night.

The health board expects the new helipad to be ready for use “in the next few months”.

A spokesman for Cwm Taf University health board said: “It is essential to ensure that all safety measures are in place for landings and take-offs prior to the service becoming live.

“These measures have now been trialled. A night-flight landing was also required after which the service operators and specialist aviation advisers confirmed that additional lighting and fencing was needed.”