Health bosses have lifted the lid on how helicopter fears forced a rethink on construction plans for Aberdeen’s new maternity unit.
In a wide-ranging report outlining delays to the Baird Family Hospital, a number of reasons for a freshly extended completion date are revealed.
They include recent worries over the water supply being contaminated, which have pushed the project back to late 2026 and sent costs spiralling by millions.
This is just the latest blow to the project beset with problems.
It was already running way behind schedule when a tragic accident at a hospital in England threw another spanner in the works…
What was the incident that forced a change of plan?
In March 2022, an 87-year-old woman was killed at Derriford hospital in Plymouth when a gust of air from the wings of a helicopter – known as downwash – knocked her to the ground.
Jean Langan, a retired civil servant, had been walking to her car with her niece after having a hearing aid fitted.
She suffered “significant head injuries”.
The incident sparked alarm across the UK, and sent project leaders scrambling to adjust their plans more than 600 miles away in the Granite City.
How did this change things in Aberdeen?
NHS Scotland launched a safety crackdown last September, with the Coastguard suspending landings at 23 Scottish sites.
In January, Grampian health chiefs vowed to foot the bill for helipad upgrades to restore these landings at Aberdeen.
The Scottish Ambulance Service and Scottish Charity Air Ambulance continued using the ARI helipad as normal, while new warning signs were installed.
Is new Baird Family Hospital too close to helipad?
The concerns led to a review of the “proximity of the Baird Family Hospital” to the current helipad on the south side of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Now, fresh reports going before an NHS Grampian board meeting explain how this has affected the construction of the new maternity unit.
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The document states that “updated guidance” insists on “greater distance between landing pads and structures”.
Therefore, north-east health chiefs ordered the contractor to scrap previous plans for the unit’s liquid nitrogen tank.
Building papers detail the cost of this piece of equipment as around £433,000.
They will now relocate the tank to the south side of the building, “away
from a proposed location on the east side of the building near the helipad”.
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