Frimley Park helipad takes first patient

Crews tested the hospital's helipad in August

A helipad built as part of a Surrey hospital's £22m extension has received its first patient by air ambulance.

Frimley Park Hospital said Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance was the first service to use the new landing pad on Tuesday.

The patient, from the Bracknell area of Berkshire, was taken to the hospital's new resuscitation department where he was later described as stable.

Hospital chiefs said the operation went smoothly and according to plan.

NHS bosses have said its new emergency department, which opened in July, includes one of the biggest resuscitation units in Europe.

The helipad is positioned directly above the department and is linked via a dedicated lift.

Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said the hospital, which has been designated as a major trauma centre, had one of the shortest helicopter-to-door journeys in the south of England.

Its emergency department serves people across Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire.