THE MPs for Truro and Falmouth and North Cornwall have joined forces to support improvements to the rear helipad landing site at the Royal Cornwall Hospital (Treliske), helping to ensure Cornwall Air Ambulance can reach patients quickly in emergencies.

With Treliske located in Truro and Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust (CAAT) based in Newquay, MPs Jayne Kirkham and Ben Maguire visited the site together on Tuesday [March 31] with CAAT chief executive Tim Bunting and Treliske chief operating officer Robin Jones.

The rear helipad is regularly employed by Cornwall Air Ambulance for emergency landings. Work is already underway on a short‑term plan to improve it, with major upgrades due to begin in November 2026. These include new helipad lighting, a 2,000‑litre fuel bowser and improved access for patient transfer vehicles, enabling safe and efficient movement through the hospital site to A&E.

Jayne Kirkham, MP for Truro and Falmouth, said: “A fully functioning helipad is essential for Treliske. We met to see what steps can be taken to make sure this vital service is running as smoothly as possible, and we will continue working with RCHT, CAAT and Cornwall Council to make that happen.”

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) and CAAT are now looking to Cornwall Council’s highways department for support with changes to the road layout and an ambulance crossing. North Cornwall MP Ben Maguire said he would be “writing to the council to push for a practical solution”.

Cornwall Air Ambulance head of operations Andrew Evans said repair and enhancement work would “future-proof the helipad for the increased traffic and foot-flow that Treliske's new developments will bring”.

The front helipad at Treliske A&E was closed in 2022 in light of an incident at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, when an 87-year-old woman died after being blown over by helicopter downwash.