Air ambulance flights are now accepted at the hospital

The structure was built five years ago when hospital services were transferred from Chatham and Rochester to the Medway site.

Air ambulance flights are being accepted at the hospital from Thursday.

Medway NHS Trust chief executive Andy Horne said the hospital now had a voluntary team of firefighters to comply with aviation rules.

He said: "There is a tremendous goodwill for the air ambulance service at the hospital.

"Thanks to the efforts of volunteers and fundraisers, the service is now set for lift off."

He said trauma patients could now be flown to their local hospital and patients needing specialist care could be moved to other locations reducing the need for long road journeys.

The service will be operational in daylight hours during the week and at weekends.

The hospital estimates that Medway could receive abut two incoming flights each week.