Celebrating London's only 24-hour hospital helipad's 10th anniversary
Professor R Bentley, BAOMS Past President reflects
28 October 2026 (Last updated: 28 Oct 2026 12:48)
10 Years ago today witnessed the opening of Helipad at The King’s College Hospital Major Trauma Centre.
The achievement was testimony to the vision, planning and execution of a project by a hugely talented and determined team whom I was proud as the MTC Director together with many others lead the project team from the charity ball launch in December 2014 at The Tower Bridge Hotel to it’s opening less than 2 years later having raised more than £4.5 million pounds through a concerted charity effort by King’s Communications staff, King’s Charity and of course the 4.5 million patients of the South East London Kent and Medway (SELKaM) Major Trauma Network who gave so generously and realised the building of the only 24/7 night operational elevated helipad in the South East.
The Helipad has gone on to receive over 2,200 patients with the most serious life threatening and time dependent injuries and medical Emergencies and has truly saved and improved outcomes for so many that otherwise might not have been so fortunate.
There are however some people that I would like to call out and without whom this would not have happened. That includes Tim Smart our then Chief Executive, Robert Bertram CEO of the County Air Ambulance “ HELP” appeal, Ian Taylor and the security Team of “ Helideckers”, the Civil Aviation Authority, Architects, Engineers and contractors, Malcolm Tunnicliff our current MTC Director and the unwavering support of Air Ambulance Kent Surrey and Sussex, and especially Lambeth planning department and our local residents for their understanding of the value of this project to the greater community.
This was truly a project born of the people and for the people of SELKaM delivered by a King’s Team that I was proud to be part of.
Well done everyone We should be very proud 🙏🥰
Happy Birthday King’s Helipad 🎂🥳
Read more here on the BCC News website and watch the video on the King's College Hospital's LinkedIn page
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