East Sussex Hospital are popular spot for helicopter landings

Over the last 3 years, over 40 per cent of the helicopter landings in Sussex delivered patients to East Sussex Hospitals.

There were 89 landings at the Trust's hospitals (65 at Eastbourne and 24 at Conquest). A manager of the ambulance service stated that Eastbourne DGH and the Conquest Hospitals offered an advantage over other sites, as no ambulance is required to transport the patient from the helicopter to hospital.

At Brighton (with 10 landings in 3 years), and Chichester North (with 33 landings) there is a significant ambulance transfer between the landing site and the hospital.

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulations stipulate the minimum area on which helicopters can land at night as 24m x 48m (by day 24m x 24m is sufficient).

The helipad at Eastbourne DGH is the only hospital helipad in Sussex large enough for helicopters to land at night which does not require an ambulance transfer. It also has good lighting, as required by the CAA for night-time landings.

Mrs McNally, Consultant in Trauma & Orthopaedics at Eastbourne DGH, said: "The helicopter is used for patients with serious injuries or where access to the patient is difficult. Other figures have shown that of all the patients who arrived at DGH by helicopter, only one was transferred on to another hospital. Some patients have major injuries often after road crashes, for which the Resuscitation room (recently refurbished with help from the Friends) is all set up. The multiply injured patients often require a great deal of input from the Teams in Theatre, Intensive Care, on wards and in Radiology. There are other patients who arrive by helicopter with minor injuries or problems, but all of these can be assessed and treated speedily."

Mr Shubber, Consultant in A&E at Eastbourne DGH, and Chair of the Eastbourne Trauma Committee said: "This shows how much work is being done at this Trust, which has not previously been recognised".