Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to develop a national policy framework for hospital helipads, including measures to ensure that Major Trauma Centres and specialist hospitals have continuous access to on-site helipads for air ambulance operations where demand is high, and to embed such requirements within relevant NHS standards and commissioning arrangements.

I refer the Noble Baroness to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 16 July 2026 to Question 16317, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.

Hospital helipads play an important role in supporting the transfer of critically ill patients and access to specialist services. Responsibility for the provision and management of hospital helipads rests with local NHS organisations, working with relevant planning, aviation and local authority bodies. Decisions on investment in hospital helicopter landing sites, including any upgrades required to support night-time operations, are primarily a matter for local NHS organisations. Organisations may consider such improvements as part of their wider estate planning and capital investment priorities, subject to the availability of funding and any relevant local planning, environmental and operational requirements.

The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Civil Aviation Authority and other partners to consider issues relating to hospital helipad access and resilience.