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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be completely fucked off with hospital parking?

243 replies

PooDogMillionaire · 22/01/2016 09:36

DS had a very bad crack to the head last week, I rushed him to A&E and there was nowhere to park... The only place to pull in had big red signs saying I'd be towed if I parked there, meanwhile DS is almost unconscious, pale with a bleeding head Angry.

I've just arrived at the same hospital for my second attempt at my maternity booking in appointment only to find a 7 car long queue for the very expensive car park. Both appointments have been at 9:30 so I haven't had much time to get up here from school run and have now had to cancel both as nowhere to park.

I'm not sure what the solution is but if be scared to go into labour and not be able to find a space!

OP posts:
rosewithoutthorns · 23/01/2016 01:46

YADNBU! It's a disgraceful to make people pay for this. Totally morally wrong and I don't know how they get away with it. I'd love to see it abolished. Why not have a place to make a couple of quid donations instead.

rosewithoutthorns · 23/01/2016 01:49

Potatoface is on fire this evening Grin

Drink plenty of water before going to bed and a good fry up in the morning with a HUGE mug of Brew

Hiddlesnake · 23/01/2016 06:15

I live and work near a hospital.
My workplace has a large, cheap car park. We used to rent half of it to the hospital for staff parking (at a VERY reasonable rate - barely covered maintenance costs) but that was ended due to a private company taking over the hospital's own car park. Many staff now rent driveway space from local residents as they cannot get a space in the staff car parks, and it is cheaper too.

Our pay and display 60p per hour and we don't do plenty fees - we want to help our community, not fine it. Carpark is always full at visiting times. The hospital carpark is twice the cost, and you pay on exit (if you can find a space)
I'll even make a coffee for someone if they've had bad news.

pullthecracker · 23/01/2016 08:10

I'm a midwife, there is a ten year wait for staff parking permits at my hospital. It is an unsafe area to walk around local streets alone at 10pm at night, so I have to use the paying car park. It costs me £200 per month to park.

3littlefrogs · 23/01/2016 08:55

I can't see anyone blaming the staff for the car parking problems.

It is simply down to poor planning.
My previous job was in a large general hospital in London. I used to pay a fairly large chunk of money every month for a staff permit - but could rarely find a space. Then they decided I wasn't important enough to be entitled to a staff permit. I used to be able to find space in the surrounding streets, but then the local council made the whole area into a CPZ.

At that point I left and got a job in GP land.

These hospital parking services are run by private companies for profit - none of which goes to the NHS. It is racket and some of the staff employed by these people are dubious to say the least.

A colleague had a horrific experience after she had an argument with one of the parking attendants. They have access to staff personal data including home addresses. I won't go into further detail as it would be too identifying.

Waxlyrically · 23/01/2016 09:23

Some of these stories are terrible and it is sad that there are so many. It's also appalling that staff are in the situation where they are losing a chunk of their salary on parking they can barely use. I think the issue is the idea of giant super hospitals serving such wide areas. It might work in larger urban areas (dare I say London where government policy originates from) but in rural areas with poor public transport and long journeys to large cities/ towns it is a disaster. I think closing down all the small local hospitals and walk in centres, which catered for more routine things, has made the situation impossible.

WiIdfire · 23/01/2016 09:27

Just wanted to say that I would never turn away a patient from my clinic who was late for their appointment because of parking issues. I know how bad it is, so would squeeze you in. Don't automatically cancel the appointment.

Melawen · 23/01/2016 10:08

Staff at my hospital pay £1.50 per day to park AND if you live within a 30 min bus zone you can't park on site without a reason (e.g. childcare etc). But that's not the only thing - staff can only park a few days a week. For instance if you're full time you can only park 6 days in a fortnight and must either car share or find another way in!! You can park in patient car parks but that's £8 a day. It gets very chaotic about 10am and 2pm when clinics fill up or visiting time happens!

It's not good - they're currently looking to extend the staff car park to free up space in the public one but the town keeps growing and the hospital (and car parks!) just aren't big enough.

ForalltheSaints · 23/01/2016 10:10

A lot of the problems with parking stem from hospitals being relocated away from city or town centres. If they had remained so, then it would be a lot easier for many people to get there for outpatients appointments and for those who work there too, without a car.

trinitybleu · 23/01/2016 10:16

Update on us at UHCW - parked within 5 minutes, in the covered bit right by the entrance. Had time for hot chocs and cookies before her appointment Smile

To be fair, have never really struggled, always parked in that bit. When having DD, OH had parked in the bays straight outside, intending to move once I was settled. The Midwives told him not to worry so he actually stayed there til we went home.

But the locals blocking the multistorey plans was wrong. There needs to be more spaces and the helipad being low is a pain too - they have to stop the traffic every time it lands or takes off ...

Marynary · 23/01/2016 10:24

I agree that hospital parking can be a real nightmare. I have to go every two weeks at the moment. Last week I was late for an appointment because I spent half an hour driving around desperately looking for a parking space. In the end, I parked in a disabled parking space and explained to the car parking attendant. He said it was fine. I think a lot of other people were doing the same thing on that day.

I have also worked at a hospital though and know that parking is already very restricted for the staff. In both the hospitals I worked in, whether or not the staff could park on hospital grounds depended on whether they could feasibly use public transport (we had to give details of all buses/trains and times), time taken to get to work if they did use public transport (taking into account drop-offs for childcare etc), and whether they needed to use a car during the day to do their job. They really couldn't reduce staff parking any more without effecting hospital service.

I agree that the problem with parking stems from the fact that hospitals are located in city or town town centers and don't have much land for parking. Without rebuilding the hospitals in different area (obviously v expensive) it is hard to solve the problem.

ButterflyUpSoHigh · 23/01/2016 10:25

trinityblue you were lucky you were not towed away from outside maternity. I have witnessed them doing this to cars parked there.

SilverDragonfly1 · 23/01/2016 11:54

I like the restrained sub heading on the Discussion of the Day link- "not very practical?"

thegiddylimit · 23/01/2016 13:41

This all sounds crazy and rather money grabbing. It's one thing to charge visitors but people who are patients shouldn't have pay really should they? Seems daft that you could be getting free prescriptions but then get stung with car parking charges.

Makes me realise how fortunate we are, at our local hospital when you go to the maternity unit they give you an exemption card so you don't have to pay for parking while in labour. Not only that but when you are on the children's ward they ask you to pay for the first hour but will then give you an exemption card when you are staying in with your child. The first is very well advertised, I don't know how well the children's ward exemption is TBH because I learnt about it by chance but we live close enough to the hospital to walk so don't really pay much attention to the stuff about parking.

yankeecandle4 · 23/01/2016 13:47

YANBU .Haven't RTFT but am a very experienced hospital user. 7 cars is nothing OP! Our Children's hospital can have 20+ cars in the queue at peak times. Our appointment letters come with a parking "warning" that explains there is likely to be a long wait.

My gripe is that the car park is a private one, leased out to the hospital, so the hospital don't even benefit from the parking fees.

ifonly4 · 23/01/2016 14:03

Last time I went for DD's booked appointment, drove in and out of car park four times, ended up dropping DD door nearest door (luckily we've been to that part before) and told her to go and tell reception I was trying to park! Have an appointment this week and have decided to walk, catch bus and walk again. At least things will feel a bit more in our control even if it takes longer.

In the case of a real emergency, one thing I'd suggest is dropping off where the ambulances come in. Ambulance crews saw I was struggling with my Mum Mum a few years ago and came straight over to help her, got a wheelchair for her and took her into A&E for me. They won't always be available, but if someone is so bad they can't walk into hospital, I think they'd help.

Want2bSupermum · 23/01/2016 14:51

Why the heck is the helipad for a hospital on the top of the parking garage? Here all the hospitals I've been at its on the top of the roof with an express elevator down to the ER.

unimaginativename13 · 23/01/2016 15:10

I'm not sure why OP would need to cancel the appts. Surely if it was that bad they would be used to it. Did you get the hospital then turn around when you didn't get a space??

If I made this mistake the first time round I would make the appt for a slightly later time next time.

Yes if the hospital is busy you may need to wait for someone to leave. I had to deal with a busy hospital during maternity and you just have to get there in plenty of time and account for this!

Want2bSupermum · 23/01/2016 15:14

unimaginative I don't think its acceptable that you need to add 30+ minutes to your schedule to find parking. Some of us have jobs and taking off this much time to accommodate a problem that is preventable is wholly unacceptable. Also it's not acceptable for staff to drive around for half an hour before a shift.

I ask, if you had to drive around for 30min looking for parking and pay for the privilege to do your shop at the supermarket would you bother going there? Yeah didn't think so. You either wouldn't go or go somewhere else.

WillBeatJanuaryBlues · 23/01/2016 15:34

Op I find it stressful too really stressful.

staff also have awful parking issues.

its just dreadful, i am not sure what the ansa is?

WillBeatJanuaryBlues · 23/01/2016 15:35

ESP a and e should have some sort of exemption, special ticket you can put in your car from their reception desk?

unimaginativename13 · 23/01/2016 15:49

Anywhere I go I account for parking!! Most places I go to I have to wait for a space.

trinitybleu · 23/01/2016 15:57

want2b I know, it's weird. And it's a couple of hundred yards from the building so I assume they wheel patients over the short stay A&E parking area once landed (and this is a new hospital, designed this way)

butterfly I said that when he told me but he said they'd told him no wardens started til mid morning (we arrived about 9pm)

Marynary · 23/01/2016 16:29

I'm not sure why OP would need to cancel the appts. Surely if it was that bad they would be used to it. Did you get the hospital then turn around when you didn't get a space??

Even if I added thirty minutes to my schedule I wouldn't have found a parking space last time I went to the hospital. There were so many cars driving around looking for a space that as soon as one became free somebody else got it. At the moment, I have a hospital appointment every two weeks plus a busy life (job, children) and it's just not feasible to drive around for hours before every hospital appointment.

Marynary · 23/01/2016 16:31

If I made this mistake the first time round I would make the appt for a slightly later time next time.

Do you actually live and the UK and have any experience of the NHS? The idea that everyone can just "make an appointment" at a time convenient to them is laughable.