SOS flights diverted as RPH helipad to shut for overhaul

The helipad at the Royal Preston Hospital (RPH) is to close for more than two months - so that it can undergo the largest refurbishment in its history.

- by Paul Faulkner

The facility - which accepts the most critically ill and injured patients from across Lancashire and South Cumbria, who need the speed of helicopter transport to receive lifesaving care - will be out of action from 10pm tomorrow until 19th September.

The overhaul will include the replacement of the landing pad itself, along with the installation of new lighting, barriers, fencing, drainage and a weather station.

During the scheduled 10-week shutdown, helicopter patients bound for the Royal Preston will instead be taken to Fulwood Barracks and then transferred the one-and-a-half miles by road to the Sharoe Green Lane hospital.