To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) the protocol for transferring patients from HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopters into hospital Emergency Departments; and (ii) any circumstances in which a Northern Ireland Ambulance Service vehicle is required to transfer a patient from a hospital landing site into the hospital.

Where an HM Coastguard Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopter rescues or retrieves a patient requiring onward hospital treatment, the aircraft will normally land at a suitable landing location identified by the flight crew. HM Coastguard liaises with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) Emergency Operations Centre where an ambulance response is required, and NIAS transfers the patient onwards to the hospital most appropriate to the patient's clinical condition and treatment needs.

HM Coastguard SAR helicopters do not currently routinely operate to hospital helicopter landing sites in Northern Ireland. The suitability of individual sites is dependent on the requirements applicable to the aircraft and landing site, including physical constraints such as airframe size and the required downwash/clearance area. Work has taken place with HM Coastguard and Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts to explore the potential for SAR operations at individual hospital sites where this can be safely facilitated.

A NIAS vehicle is required where the helicopter landing site does not provide direct access into the receiving hospital, or where onward ground transfer is otherwise necessary.

For Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) arrivals at the South West Acute Hospital, Altnagelvin Hospital, Causeway Hospital and Antrim Area Hospital, NIAS facilitates transfer from the hospital landing site into the hospital. At the Royal Victoria Hospital, patients arriving by HEMS can be transferred directly from the rooftop helipad into the hospital without routinely requiring a NIAS vehicle.

Where a paediatric patient conveyed by HEMS requires treatment at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, the aircraft lands at the Royal Victoria Hospital helipad and NIAS provides the onward transfer between the sites.

The Southern HSC Trust does not currently have an operational hospital helicopter landing facility at Craigavon Area Hospital or Daisy Hill Hospital. Where helicopter transfer to a Southern HSC Trust hospital is required, the aircraft lands at a suitable off-site location and NIAS undertakes the onward ground transfer. The South Eastern HSC Trust has also advised that helicopters do not land at the Ulster Hospital site.

No formal assessment has been undertaken of the impact on patient transfer times arising specifically from HM Coastguard SAR helicopters being unable to land at the hospital most appropriate for a patient's treatment.

Where direct landing at a hospital is not possible, an additional transfer by road may be required between the helicopter landing location and the receiving hospital. The arrangements are coordinated according to the patient's clinical needs and the operational circumstances at the time.

There are physical constraints at a number of hospital landing sites which currently limit their suitability for HM Coastguard SAR operations, including aircraft dimensions and downwash requirements. HM Coastguard and relevant HSC Trusts have been engaging to consider whether SAR operations can be facilitated at individual sites. This has included consideration of the Royal Victoria Hospital helipad and Causeway Hospital. Relevant information on hospital helicopter landing sites has been provided to the SAR operator to support direct engagement with individual sites.