A hospital has hit back at claims that a helicopter pad is not fit for purpose.

It comes after rumours circulated online claiming that a newly-constructed helipad at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton, is too small and unable to take larger-sized helicopters.

However, a spokesman for the Universities Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust denied the claims.

He said: “The helideck is not operational at the moment because we’ve got some work to do around the top of the building that it’s standing on.

“This has been one of those rumours that has been going around since we started construction.

"No matter what we’ve tried to do, we’ve never been able to quash it.”

The Argus: The helipad is part of a wider development at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, including a new state-of-the-art building which will open to patients next springThe helipad is part of a wider development at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, including a new state-of-the-art building which will open to patients next spring (Image: Eddie Mitchell)

The helipad has yet to be used as the final elements of construction work are still being completed.

The spokesman added that once complete, the helipad will be able to handle any helicopter used by the emergency services.

“The only thing it can’t handle are Chinooks,” he said, referring to the military transport helicopter used by the military.

It remains unclear how soon the helipad will be brought into operation.

The helipad, which sits on the Thomas Kemp Tower at the hospital complex, will allow the most severely injured and unwell patients to be brought directly to the hospital by air ambulance.

Currently, they land in East Brighton Park, with patients transferred by road ambulance to the hospital - a roughly one-mile drive.

The helipad is part of a wider redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital, which will see the almost 200-year-old Barry Building replaced with a new state-of-the-art clinical building with modern facilities for patients and staff.

The as-yet-unnamed building will feature more than 40 wards and departments, increased capacity for high-demand departments - including cancer services and intensive care, and dedicated patient and visitor parking.

The £483 million project will give patients five times as much space per bed in wards than in the Barry Building, allowing for improved privacy and dignity, as well as more space for staff breakout rooms - particularly in high-stress wards like critical care.

The new building is set to open in the spring of next year.