The rooftop helipad at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow has recorded more than 3,000 landings since opening in May 2015, averaging nearly six landings every week across its decade of operation, according to the HELP Appeal.

A total of 3,030 landings have taken place at the facility, including aircraft from Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance and HM Coastguard services. In 2025 the Glasgow helipad was ranked the fourth busiest hospital helipad in Britain and the second busiest in Scotland among those funded by the HELP Appeal, the only charity in the UK dedicated to funding hospital helipads.

Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal, said the milestone reflected the helipad’s critical importance to emergency healthcare in Scotland. “Every landing represents a patient needing urgent specialist treatment, often in life-threatening circumstances where every minute matters. We are proud to have supported both the construction of the helipad and the recent resurfacing work to help ensure this vital facility continues operating safely and reliably for many years to come.”

The HELP Appeal contributed £700,000 toward the original construction of the helipad and a further £180,000 more recently to fund installation of a new high-friction surface, ensuring the facility can continue to operate safely in adverse weather. The helipad enables critically ill and seriously injured patients from across the region to be transferred directly to the QEUH campus, where they can access a range of highly specialised medical teams.

The charity has funded or is currently funding 21 helipads across Scotland, including at the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh, Campbeltown Hospital, the Isle of Mull, and Gigha, with facilities at Aberdeen and the Isle of Skye in the pipeline. Across Britain as a whole, the HELP Appeal has funded 55 hospital helipads which have recorded more than 34,500 landings in total, with Scotland accounting for 7,017 of those. The charity relies entirely on voluntary donations and receives no government or National Lottery funding.