Continued call for hospital helipad’s return

DYLAN SMITH

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PRESSURE is mounting on the state government to take action and return helipad access to Gunnedah Hospital.

Helicopter landings at the hospital site ceased in 2025 and during that time have been conducted at the airport or at playing fields on some occasions.

In an emergency, every minute counts and civic leaders have renewed a continued push for the reinstatement of the helipad.

Gunnedah-based Member of the Legislative Council Sarah Mitchell, who is also the Shadow Minister for Health and Regional Health, has joined with Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson and Gunnedah Shire mayor Colleen Fuller in calling for a return to direct helicopter access to the health facility.

Cr Fuller met with Ms Mitchell to discuss ongoing advocacy in relation to the issue.

“The safest place for a medical helicopter to land in Gunnedah is at the hospital, and that’s what council will continue to advocate for,” Cr Fuller said.

“Our community deserves timely, direct access to emergency care, and we need clear answers and a commitment from NSW Health to reinstate the helipad.

“Patient safety, accountability and community trust must come before convenience or cost-shifting.”

Ms Mitchell, a Gunnedah local, said it is incredibly frustrating to see the helipad at the Gunnedah Hospital out of action.

“If there is work that needs to be done at the hospital site to bring the helipad up to scratch then the NSW government needs to allocate the funding to make it happen,” she told this publication.

“In an emergency every minute matters, and it just makes no sense that aeromedical retrievals would happen at the airport instead of at the hospital.

“I have raised this issue in the NSW Parliament and with the health minister, as has our local member Kevin Anderson, and we will continue to advocate alongside mayor Colleen Fuller and Gunnedah Shire Council to restore this essential service for our community.”

In May, Ms Mitchell moved a production of documents order in the upper house and called on the government to release information relating to the helipad’s closure, assessments, advice and other matters.

“The call for papers is to get some information from the health minister, NSW Health, NSW Ambulance and the local health district to understand what has changed,” Ms Mitchell told her upper house colleagues.

“Why could the helicopter land on the helipad at the hospital site for so many years but is now being transported elsewhere? People stop me on the street to ask me what is happening with this issue, and other members have had it raised with them.”

Ms Mitchell’s push in the Legislative Council received broad support from other members who called on the government to address the issue.

Some questioned the government’s recent $53m upgrade of the local health facility but failure to remedy a substandard helipad.

Upper house member Emily Suvaal, responding on the government’s behalf, said the temporary closure of the hospital helipad was not arbitrary and followed an independent expert assessment by AviPro, an Australian aviation advisory firm with expertise in helipad infrastructure, safety and compliance.

“That assessment clearly found, first, the helipad is not compliant; secondly, the helipad does not meet required safety standards for modern helicopters such as the AW139 used by NSW Ambulance; and, thirdly, identified risks included proximity to infrastructure, unsafe approach and departure paths, and environmental and downwash risks,” Ms Suvaal said.

“The concerns about the site are not new. As far back as 2017, an independent assessment by AviPro found the site to be of marginal viability, with several improvement works subsequently undertaken to support continued operations. Though those improvements have been made, the introduction of larger, more powerful helicopters has changed operational requirements.

“The 2024 expert review reaffirmed that the site still has significant safety limitations and cannot safely accommodate current NSW Ambulance rescue helicopter operations.

“Aeromedical transfers are now safely conducted via Gunnedah Airport, which is only 3.4km from the hospital and approximately six minutes’ travel time without lights and siren.”

Ms Suvaal told the Legislative Council the helipad remains under active review and further consultation is ongoing.

Mr Anderson echoed similar concerns to Ms Mitchell about the lack of helipad access.

“Minutes matter when doctors, nurses and patients are faced with critical emergency situations that require aeromedical retrieval,” he told this publication. “The Gunnedah community deserves to have their helipad reopened as soon as possible.

“Gunnedah Shire Council have identified a pathway to reopen the helipad.

“I want the government to fund it and I’m continuing to push the minister to deliver the funds to make it happen.”