Sheffield Teaching Hospitals named joint winners of the Best Large Commercial Building for design and construction of life-saving helipad and out of hours GP centre.

THE TEAM behind the planning, construction and design of a new life-saving helipad and out of hours GP centre at the Northern General Hospital have won a prestigious regional award.

The state-of-the-art helipad and the out of hours GP Centre, which is located directly beneath it, are situated right next to the entrance of the A&E department at the Northern General Hospital.Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s Estates Team, who oversee construction and property management across Sheffield’s five adult NHS hospitals as well as maintenance of community properties and management of external contractors, were named joint winners of the Best Large Commercial Building in the regional Local Authority Building Control (LABC) awards.

Since it opened in June 2016, the helipad has transformed care for patients being transferred in for life-saving treatment. The GP Centre provides non-urgent medical advice when GP surgeries are closed.

The team were judged on four key areas: overall design, sustainability, good management of a project and effective communication.

Leigh Shearstone, Estates Manager (Design) for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It’s fantastic to get some recognition for our work. This was a unique project, requiring a whole team effort, and we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved.

"Through careful design and planning of the scheme we were able to achieve our objectives and provide a fully functioning and compliant helipad right next to the entrance of the A&E department with the space underneath utilised for an out of hours GP centre.

“There’s been lots of interest in the helipad, and we’ve had nothing but praise for the design which could quite easily have been bland in its appearance had it not been for the fantastic design put together by the architects. It makes good use of materials and limited space in a busy hospital site. None of this would have been possible without the enthusiasm and commitment of the team.”

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals’ Estates Team worked with Henry Boot PLC, JTP Architects, Eastwood and Partners, Sheffield Electric and CPR Surveyors on the project.

They will now go through to the LABC grand finals in London in November where the national winners of the title will be unveiled