The UK’s coastguard has stopped landing its helicopters at 23 hospital helipads across Scotland, citing safety concerns.
The move, affecting major hospitals in places like Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, follows a review sparked by a tragic accident in Devon in 2022, where a woman was killed by the downdraft from a helicopter landing.
Bristow, the company that operates the coastguard helicopters, made the decision in line with new safety rules from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
A recent Safety Action Notice issued by Bristow explained: “The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report into a fatal downwash accident at Plymouth Derriford Hospital makes several recommendations to address safeguarding measures that need to be in place at hospital helicopter landing sites (HHLS) used by NHS Scotland.”
Which Hospitals Are Affected?
Some of the busiest hospitals in Scotland are impacted, including:
Aberdeen Royal Infirmary: 58 coastguard landings between May 2022 and May 2024
Stornoway’s Western Isles Hospital: 52 landings
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary: 21 landings
Glasgow’s Golden Jubilee: 20 landings
The suspension has left hospitals needing to find alternative ways to manage helicopter landings in emergencies. A Bristow safety report highlights the danger posed by helicopter downdraft and the need for larger safe zones around helipads. It states: “CAP1264 makes it clear that a downwash zone for large helicopters should extend 50-65 metres from the edge of a ground-level hospital helicopter landing site.”
How Are NHS Boards Coping?
Even though coastguard helicopters can’t land at these sites for now, Scottish Air Ambulance and charity-run air ambulances are still able to use the helipads. NHS boards are working on contingency plans, and in some cases, helicopters are being redirected to nearby airports. For example, NHS Western Isles is now using Stornoway Airport, which is about four miles from the hospital.
An NHS Western Isles spokesperson reassured people, saying: “In over 30 years of operation, there have been no incidents relating to physical injury as a result of the location of the helipad at Western Isles Hospital. However, we acknowledge and accept the recommendations of the AAIB.”
NHS Grampian, which runs Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, is also working closely with Bristow to improve safety at the site. A spokesperson said: “More than 260 helicopters land safely at our Foresterhill site each year, and we are committed to ensuring our facilities remain safe for patients, the public, and our staff.”
Why Has Bristow Taken This Action?
Bristow has pulled out of 23 hospital helipads in Scotland, including some of the busiest facilities, such as Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Ninewells in Dundee, and Glasgow’s Golden Jubilee. Their report explains: “We are not currently assured that safeguarding is in place around the HHLS. We are left with no option but to withdraw it from operations for the time being until sufficient measures are made.”
Not all hospitals are affected, though. Hospitals that have already met the required safety standards, and therefore remain operational, include:
Raigmore Hospital in Inverness
Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow
Lerwick’s Gilbert Bain Hospital in Shetland
What’s Next?
NHS Scotland is now working to resolve the safety issues raised by the CAA and comply with the CAP1264 guidelines. This document makes it clear that hospital boards are responsible for making sure their helipads meet safety standards. It states: “The NHS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) has overall responsibility for the safe operational management of any HHLS used in NHS patient delivery to hospitals.”
NHS boards are now partnering with Bristow to assess and improve the safety of each helipad. Designated Accountable Managers and Responsible Persons have been appointed to manage safety reviews and carry out risk assessments. The goal is to get the helicopter services back to normal as soon as possible.
It’s unfortunate, but I can understand why. The coastguard use S92s I believe, and those are far larger than the average air ambulance models that normally use those helipads.
Hopefully they’ll be able to get the necessary clearance zones without too much trouble.
Can’t a temporary measure of not putting people in platform when rotor working be possible?
This is a very old problem that seems to come up now and again. We had to close our helipad because of downdraft issues affecting gardens close to the hospital ( someone’s garden furniture got blown away). The big problem here is that essentially most hospital landing pads are in pretty confined places, where the rotor is forced over public areas, which is not so much an issue with air ambulances as they tend to be light rotors H135 is the classic, weighting in at 1500kgs..it becomes a bigger issue with the coastguard who are operating medium lift rotors in… Read more »
That is what you get for an H&S regimes that is run by doctrinal purity obsessives.
The balance of harms argument goes out of the window.