A “phenomenal” £3.9 million elevated helipad – the first of its kind in the North West – has opened at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.
The state-of-the-art helicopter landing pad – which is situated on the roof of Grafton Street car park on Oxford Road – has officially opened to the public today, and will bring adults and children with life threatening injuries to the Major Trauma Centres at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Previously, air ambulances carrying critically ill or injured patients to hospitals on Oxford Road had to use a secondary landing site in parkland a mile away.
Patients were then transferred by road ambulance.
Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH) is the Children’s Major Trauma Centre for the entire Greater Manchester region and one of only two dedicated Children’s Major Trauma Centres in the whole of the North West, providing care for seriously ill or injured children.
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Manchester Royal Infirmary is one of two Major Trauma Centres in Manchester providing care to adults with life threatening injuries related to trauma.
🗞️NEWS: The first elevated Helipad of its kind in the North West has officially opened to patients today at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust on Oxford Road 🚁🏥🙌
Well, according to MFT, being able to land just minutes away from specialist care is crucial in an emergency, and with the new helipad, patients will be transferred to MRI’s Emergency Department in less than three minutes and to RMCH’s Paediatric Emergency Department in less than six minutes.
The new helicopter landing site on Oxford Road could allow as many as 300 patients to be airlifted to hospitals each year, saving lives both locally and regionally and increasing the chances of an improved level of recovery for many patients.
Alistair Rennie – Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Major Trauma at the MRI and RMCH, and Group Clinical Lead for Emergency Planning – said: “The helipad will benefit major trauma patients across Greater Manchester and beyond, including people who have suffered serious injuries in road traffic accidents, assaults, sudden illnesses or falls in areas difficult to reach by road ambulances.
“As a consultant in Emergency Medicine, we know the quality and speed of specialist medical care following a major trauma injury is vital to ensuring patients have the best chance of a full recovery.
“I am delighted that this development is now a reality at MFT’s Oxford Road Campus, as for many patients our helipad could represent the difference between life and death”.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
Emily Sergeant -
10th May 2021 
