Northern General Hospital
NORTHERN GENERAL HOSPITAL: Private helipad
Note: All four of these pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©
Location: In Fir Vale, roughly 2nm NNE of Sheffield City centre
NOTES: I do not know how long this hospital has had a helipad facility. The second picture (2009) shows what I imagine was the first helipad (?) and that was in use until the impressive new facility appears in 2016. Interesting to see that even by 2009 a hard standing had still not been provided with patients in extreme distress still being taken over grass in all weathers.
We in the UK are of course very familiar with the press and media constantly bleating on, (and quite rightly), about problems in the NHS, and underfunding by central government. But, the general picture is, and will remain I suppose, very patchy. Here we have one example of what can be done in recent years. A credit to all involved and I do hope similar improvements have been made throughout the hospital?
The third picture (2017) shows the relationship in the hospital grounds between the helipads. And, if you look closely, there is a helicopter on the new helipad.
The fourth picture also shows that a 10 tonne weight limit is imposed. Possibly an example of a lack of understanding by the architects - which is entirely to be expected from that profession in my experience. They clearly decided that a major disaster cannot possibly occur in the Sheffield area, and therefore it cannot accept the Chinook helicopter. Which weighs over 10 tonnes empty. On what grounds did the architects justify that decision?
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