大象传媒

Touch down on the Royal Derby Hospital

The air ambulance based at East Midlands Airport dropped in on Derby - but fortunately without a casualty on board or with one in need on the ground. This was the first test flight onto the helipad on top of the city's new hospital - the Royal Derby.

Accident and emergency will move to the new building in May providing the airborne medics with a vital resource. As the first helipad in the East Midlands, it will allow the air ambulance to fly casualties from Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland right into the heart of the Royal Derby.

Brian Ibell, the hospital's former chief executive who has been overseeing the development of the helipad, said: "It's the last piece of a very complex jigsaw and we're delighted. It's the icing on the cake."

From the helipad, patients can be taken on a trolley, down a ramp and into a lift leading directly to A&E.