University Hospitals Sussex plans to seek changes to the planning conditions for the Royal Sussex County Hospital’s helipad after it brought more than 50 patients directly to the Brighton hospital.
The trust says the facility’s experience since opening has prompted a review of the existing planning arrangements. Noise and air-quality assessments are being carried out as part of that work.
The proposal will use the Section 73 planning process, which allows an applicant to seek changes to conditions attached to an existing permission. The announcement sets out an intended application, rather than an approved change.
What the hospital says has changed
In its update published on 20 October, the trust says patients brought to the helipad have included people injured in road collisions and remote locations, as well as those experiencing cardiac emergencies.
Landing at the hospital removes the need for a further road transfer between an off-site landing location and the clinical team. The decision to transport an individual patient by helicopter depends on their clinical needs and location.
The trust says it will work with its neighbours’ liaison group during the planning process, which is expected to take several months. The assessments will be important evidence alongside the clinical case for the facility.
When did the helipad open?
The hospital’s helipad project information records test landings on 24 February 2026 and a full end-to-end simulation on 2 March.
Those rehearsals tested the route from helicopter arrival through to hospital care before the facility began receiving patients in March. Its first patient arrived on 14 March, and a ceremonial opening followed in May.
The sequence distinguishes the start of clinical operations from the later formal opening. The patient figure in the latest live NHS announcement covers the period since the service began operating.
What does a Section 73 application mean?
The government’s planning guidance says Section 73 can be used to vary or remove conditions attached to a planning permission. It cannot be used to change the description of the development.
If permission is granted, it creates a new permission with revised conditions alongside the original one. The process therefore requires a planning decision; an applicant’s announcement does not itself alter the conditions.
For people living near the hospital, the important next documents will be the proposed wording of the changes and the supporting environmental assessments. Those will provide the detail needed to understand how the requested conditions compare with the current arrangements.
The trust’s update does not announce approval of new operating conditions. Its case will need to be considered through the planning process, alongside the evidence about the helipad’s effects on its surroundings.
