To think hospital parking should be for staff and patients only?

[NoHolidaysforyou]

I'm not sure if I am being unreasonable but our local hospital seems to never have parking available during appointment times (even with charges). When I was pregnant I remember whole families going in (aunts and uncles included) to see an ultrasound... Surely visitors are taking necessary limited parking spaces from patients and staff? So... AIBU to think hospital parking should be for staff and patients only? Visitors (unless they have a blue badge) could probably take public transport or walk a bit to get to the hospital. I don't think it's fair to stress patients or direct partners or parents of patients trying to get the patient to see a doctor.

[wonkylegs]

It's also worth pointing out that NHS staff tend to pay a lot of money every year for a parking permit that doesn't even ensure they get a space. There are more permits than spaces in DHs staff car park.

[SnuggyBuggy]

The problem is that a lot of large hospitals were built in badly thought out areas with little public transport, the hospitals expand but the car park can't match.

Us staff get whinged at to give up our cars and get the bus but without a decent bus link it isn't possible. It's so bad it sometimes affects recruitment when people discover they don't qualify for a parking space, would have to spend over an hour getting two busses to work and then decide not to take the job.

As for patients, the taxi companies must love all those hospitals with little public transport and not enough parking spaces.

[Alsohuman]

How can resource be a separate issue? The world’s joined up. Push one domino and there’s an impact on the rest.

[NoHolidaysforyou]

I think patients should have priority because it would be difficult to determine which patients are more sick than others (a pregnancy antenatal appointment could mean any number of things such as an ectopic or pre eclampsia which are also life threatening). I'm not saying anyone needs to take public transport from their front door but perhaps another parking site (like a park and ride).

[wonkylegs]

A lot of hospital trusts don't 'own' their car parks or buildings they lease them through PFI so they have very little influence on how parking is arranged, the pfi companies run them

[Chippychipsforme]

The NHS barely has enough money to keep going and you'd like free shuttles from satellite car parks for visitors?!

My mum was in hospital and it would have been 3 buses or 2 buses and a 30 minute walk for me to visit her. That's probably a 90 minute journey each way for 90 minutes of visiting. This is a suburban location, the bus routes are appalling.

What needs to happen is for the money from car parking to go back to the hospital to help provide services. Or the government could develop and fund better bus and local rail infrastructure.

[SinkGirl]

So when I had one twin at home and one in the NICU for two months, after an emergency section and with cellulitis, I was meant to get the bus there and back? Lovely.

[SinkGirl]

What needs to happen is for the money from car parking to go back to the hospital to help provide services.

If only they hadn’t flogged off all the carparks to make a quick buck...

[TokenGinger]

YABU.

People with appointments are not a priority. I've had many hospital appointments which are routine. They don't affect my ability to walk.

In those situations, I would rather give up my parking space and walk for 10 minutes from a car park further away to allow a visitor a space closer to the hospital who's running to say goodbye to their parent in their final moments, or a man who's Mrs has gone in to early labour, or a mother whose child is in hospital but she's had to rush after doing the school run, taking other children to childcare arrangements, then rushing to the hospital to make the most of the 90min visiting slot we get at our hospital.

They deserve the space more than many with appointments.

[Northernsoulgirl45]

If I go to the hospital for a blood test or scan I always park Somewhere else and walk the last bit. Easy enough. I dont feel safe doing this visiting my husband in hospital at night.
I also dread tsking dh tk his appointments ad parking is so difficult during the day even with a blue badge.

[ifoundthebread]

@sirzy there is a hospital close to me which bought some land about 5 minutes drive away from the hospital, paved it and offer park and ride for staff at certain hours of the day. Which is good as there is a comprehensive school close by and it helps reduce traffic.

[Fernanie]

I thought you'd be complaining about the people who abuse hospital parking to then work elsewhere/go shopping

Surely nobody does this! Parking at my local hospital is £3/hour, no exceptions. That's going to add up to an expensive commute.
In practice, though, it does have the effect of ensuring that only people attending for routine appointments can afford to park there. If you're regularly visiting a sick child / relative, or you're working an 8- or 12-hour shift, you're effectively priced out of the car park.

[Northernsoulgirl45]

Sorry typos

[Alsohuman]

The money does go back to the hospital already. Maybe research your subject a bit before posting shit?

[SnuggyBuggy]

To be fair a well thought out park and ride could help stop appointments being wasted because the patient couldnt find a parking space in time

[Sirzy]

But it’s equally as hard to try to differentiate between visitors!

[juneau]

Here's a radical idea - how about hospitals make their car parks big enough to accommodate all those who need to park in them? That's staff, patients and their visitors. My local hospital serves a huge area and is situated in the city on a limited site. However, when they recently redid the carpark they didn't properly utilise the space they have. They should have built a multi-storey. It's all very well saying 'Get the bus', but it's not convenient for many people who are time poor and who may well be in poor health or accompanied by an unwell person having an appointment. As for the large families going in to see ultrasounds - hospitals could easily prevent this by saying that patients attending scans can only have one other adult with them.

[BlueMerchant]

Sitting waiting in a park and ride for the bus while your sick relative is in critical care alone....YABU.
I'd rather the parking space went to the relative than someone who has a day appointment.

[BogglesGoggles]

Having visitors can make a highe difference to longer term patients or patients in for serious concerns. When my grandparents went to hospital my mother only managed to visit them regularly because there was parking available. They spoke no English and the quality of card was quite poor (my mother had to flag up things like mouth thrush etc because the nurses just didn’t bother checking). If she had to take public transport she wouldn’t have been able to go to work and fit in visiting hours.

[steppemum]

so, my parents live in small town A.
There is no hospital. When mum was ill she was taken to other town B to the hospital. 30 minutes drive away. About 4 hours by public transport. No transport back after the visiting hours.
Dad couldn't drive due to recent eye op. I live in yet another town C which does have large hospital and decent bus links. But it is in different county to A and B, so parents automatically sent to B.

I had to drive to A, pick up dad and drive to B for him to visit his wife of 50 years who was in intensive car. he doesn't have a blue badge. It cost £3.50 every day to park, plus the petrol for the 2 hours round trip I had to make. We are a low income family.
Visiting hours was either 3-4 (school pick up) or 6-7 (dinner and bed) I have 3 dcs.

the logistics of hospital visiting are a real nightmare. Until their hospital closed, Mum could have been in town A. Walking distance or short taxi ride from home.
I don't think there are any easy answers to be honest. but maybe some underground multistorey car parks should be built around hospitals.

[horizontalis]

Our local hospital car park charges are outrageous. But the hospital doesn't own the land that the car parks are on.
They aren't owned or run by the NHS at all, the land is privately owned, and run by a car parking company which pays the rent and collects the charges.

[reluctantbrit]

Our main hospital has several staff only areas incl. a section for A&E staff right next to the A&E entrance.

There are several buses going either direct to the hospital or to the high street next to it. Problem, unless you live on these routes you need to change and wait for connections.

The high street has severe parking restrictions of just 1-2hr, pointless if you don't know how long it takes to be seen/have a procedure as non-urgent ones are more than once bumped down for emergencies. I refused scans there as I never knew how long I would sit. Also, in several cases you need to buy from the store as you need to scan a recipe, so another burden for visitors.

And I say this as someone who arrived in full labour at the hospital just when visiting hours started and no space available.

The hospital in my hometown abolished fixed hours, they will ask people to leave the room for doctor's rounds and ask to avoid mealtimes unless the patient asks for it (helpful if you can't eat on your own). A friend is a ward nurse and she says everything calmed down a lot, less busy than the fixed times which makes it nicer for everyone.

[SnuggyBuggy]

@Juneau, the problem is the residents would complain about the traffic increase