Amazing timelapse footage shows a link bridge to the new helipad at Manchester Royal Infirmary being lifted into place.
The 45 metre section of bridge was installed with cranes at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s (MFT) Oxford Road Campus on Friday.
The bridge will be used to transport critically ill patients from the new landing pad on Grafton Street Car Park.
It will be used as a corridor to take patients to the emergency departments of Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI), Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital (RMCH), St Mary’s and the Royal Eye Hospital.
It is suspended 19 metres above street-level.
The £3.9 million helipad is expected to be ready for use by the end of 2020.
It means that more than 300 patients will be airlifted to the campus each year.
The MRI is a Major Trauma Centre for Greater Manchester and RMCH is the Major Trauma Centre for the entire Greater Manchester region.
Having a helicopter landing pad on site at the campus will be crucial for providing urgent lifesaving care for critically ill patients.
At the moment, if a patient is flown to the Oxford Road Campus, they must land at a site a mile away.
Patients are then taken to hospital by road ambulance.
The helipad will save lives, as patients will instead be taken directly to the emergency departments via the link bridge.
David Furnival, group director of Estates and Facilities at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said: “After months of hard work at ground level and up on top of the Grafton Street Car Park, I am delighted that this major milestone has now been reached.
"The newly-placed 45 metre link bridge is a crucial piece of construction that will allow patients to be transported quickly and safely from the helicopter landing site into one of our hospitals.”
Alistair Rennie, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Major Trauma at Manchester Royal Infirmary said: “When dealing with major trauma and serious injuries, seconds count, and getting patients to the right care can potentially mean the difference between life and death.
"This new Helipad facility will allow us to save more lives, and help more people than ever before.”
Funding for the Helipad was raised by MFT Charity’s Time Save Lives Appeal.
