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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To just miss appointments as can’t park?

278 replies

Wishitwascooler · 20/06/2023 12:14

Hospital is full to bursting and you can’t park anywhere for miles around. They won’t talk to me on the phone as I’m in the car even though outside hospital 😂 not sure what to do!

OP posts:
thecatsthecats · 20/06/2023 13:06

I felt very smug when my husband protested at leaving an hour before an appointment a 20m drive away. Spent an extra 30m trawling around finding parking and then schlepping to the other side of the hospital.

Sahara123 · 20/06/2023 13:07

I have been to many hospitals and have yet to find one with anywhere near enough parking. Even the very newly built ones .
Same problem with schools !
Its so difficult isn’t it .

Fandabedodgy · 20/06/2023 13:07

You park further away and walk, take public transport, taxi the remainder of the journey.

Dinobore · 20/06/2023 13:07

Isn't it depressing how the NHS is so shit now that people just happily accept that it's near on impossible to park and so people should either take a day off work (usually unpaid) to leave early and wait for a space, or pay for public transport which isn't always great depending where you live. It's ridiculous.

Lcb123 · 20/06/2023 13:08

YABU - leave earlier, get public transport or a taxi. Most hospitals are in urban locations

Brefugee · 20/06/2023 13:09

Blackbyrd · 20/06/2023 12:35

It hardly requires hindsight to understand that hospital car parks are always full to bursting and therefore people need to accommodate that fact

It hardly requires foresight to know that many people can't simply take the day off or leave 2 hours early for an appointment

Fandabedodgy · 20/06/2023 13:10

Dinobore · 20/06/2023 13:07

Isn't it depressing how the NHS is so shit now that people just happily accept that it's near on impossible to park and so people should either take a day off work (usually unpaid) to leave early and wait for a space, or pay for public transport which isn't always great depending where you live. It's ridiculous.

The NHS role is to provide health care, not parking spaces.

Needmoresleep · 20/06/2023 13:10

I have horrible memories of both hospital and dentist appointments with a mother with dementia and limited mobility.

Taxi…. even perhaps from a car park where you leave your car. Just Park (link above) is also good and allows me to park in an Asda car park opposite a railway station I use.

I suspect that demand for parking near hospitals is pretty much unlimited with staff, patients and visitors. An extreme was hearing people in a waiting moan about not being able to get parking at St Thomas in Central London. It turned out they lived on both train and bus routes but thought they had a right to inexpensive parking.

Dymaxion · 20/06/2023 13:11

Our local hospital has very limited parking and its always a nightmare, I don't know why they don't run a park and ride service from one of the big edge of town supermarkets.

Dinobore · 20/06/2023 13:12

Fandabedodgy · 20/06/2023 13:10

The NHS role is to provide health care, not parking spaces.

Show quote history

Which many people need to access the healthcare ffs. Plenty of people who need to attend appointments have issues with mobility etc and would find it challenging to get on a bus and walk. Its not like the car parks are paid for as part of the budget as such, people pay (a tonne) for the pleasure of parking. We are told the cost of a ticket goes back into the trust to provide healthcare, why not the investment in decent multistorey or whatever, itd pay for itself over time and they'd get even more cash from people who have no choice but to visit hospital.

lieselotte · 20/06/2023 13:15

The lack of spaces at hospitals is a real nuisance for anyone who isn't mobile and can't park some distance away (or has someone to drive them).

I don't understand why the OP's employer is so inflexible though. It's not down to them to tell the OP how much time she needs to get to her appointment and I would be telling them so and leaving when I needed to. I remember my boss having a go at me years back for not using the motorway and taking about two miles more to get to another of our offices on the A road. He was an idiot in other ways too.

lieselotte · 20/06/2023 13:16

why not the investment in decent multistorey or whatever to be fair our hospital did and it is still full. Demand just expands.

MrsCarson · 20/06/2023 13:17

Same at the local hospitals near us. I went to one appointment alone last year and got there 45 minutes early so I could find a spot then find my way to the dept I needed. I found a spot with 5 minutes to spare. Nightmare.
I've been getting lots of appointments this year, so Dh drives drops me at the door and I phone him when I'm going out and he comes back for me. He parks a long way away and reads his book.

popcornsong · 20/06/2023 13:18

When I was called in to our local hospital as my father was dying I was so stressed not to be able to find a parking space as I knew I might miss his last moments. I am afraid I parked in the moped area as I was desperate. Waiting for a taxi would have meant that I wouldn't have got there on time and buses would have taken even longer.

VegetablesFightingToReclaimTheAubergieneEmoji · 20/06/2023 13:19

when I went into Labour dh had to leave the car on double yellows. He kept trying to park but there was nowhere.

its shit. As is the cost of it. People saying leave more time, in a way that just fuels it.

Plasticplantpot · 20/06/2023 13:20

Totally sympathize. Like pretty much the whole of the NHS, nothing fit for purpose. The same happens at our local hospital. Hospitals I’ve been to overseas operate valet parking. Was never, ever an issue. Now you have the stress of whatever appointment, plus the stress of parking and then paying for parking after you’ve waited three hours to see someone. Last time I went to our local hospital, three parking payment machines weren’t working. Cue parking ticket! I did try and have lodged an appeal. Oh yeah, and DC’s latest hospital appt (operation) has just been cancelled this morning, for no other reason than mismanagement. Absolutely done with the NHS.

DataNotLore · 20/06/2023 13:23

lieselotte · 20/06/2023 13:16

why not the investment in decent multistorey or whatever to be fair our hospital did and it is still full. Demand just expands.

Exactly. It's pointless.

Jules912 · 20/06/2023 13:23

About the only good thing about our local hospital is that it has plenty of parking, so long as you don't need to be right by the door. Possibly explained by the extortionate costs.
I have an appointment at a different hospital in a few weeks, shall make sure to leave plenty of time!

SouthCountryGirl · 20/06/2023 13:24

Fandabedodgy · 20/06/2023 13:07

You park further away and walk, take public transport, taxi the remainder of the journey.

Taxis are expensive though. I could take public transport but it takes forever to get there.

Not everyone has the luxury of parking further away and walking.

Catspyjamas17 · 20/06/2023 13:28

There are no buses to our local hospital as we no longer have a bus service from our village. Even before then it would have been three buses and about an hour and a half to get there for a twenty-five minute car journey. Then you probably couldn't get a bus back. There are no railway stations nearby either.

The local authority just expect people to drive everywhere and don't give a toss about public transport.

Dahliasrule · 20/06/2023 13:30

We once took DGD from her home to hospital, DD supposed to meet us there from work for the appointment. We were earlier and found a space, DD didn’t. We took DGD in, and eventually had to accompany her into the consultant. In the meantime, DD still looking for parking place. When she found out we had been seen she gave up and returned to work. I thought I’d better check at the pay station if she had been charged. She had! If we hadn’t paid it she might have ended up with a fine even though she hadn’t parked!

LakeTiticaca · 20/06/2023 13:32

Preparation is the key . Hospital carparks are notorious for carparks being chock full. Our local one usually is. Public transport or a taxi or a lift is the best way foward

mindutopia · 20/06/2023 13:33

Our GP surgery is the same. I've never once seen a free space in the car park. Only other parking nearby is a council car park (as in permitted for council employees) or you can park illegally in some bays reserved for police/fire (there is a fire station) or on double yellows. I live rurally and no bus service (and even if there was, it would take literally all day from us). I could in theory park in town as there is a pay and display car park and walk out, but it's hilly and not an easy or quick walk with small children. It must be incredibly difficult for anyone less mobile than me.

Fraaahnces · 20/06/2023 13:35

Had a similar issue today when my DH went for post-surgical appointment. There was a “full” sign on the only carpark and about six cars propped in each lane waiting to be allowed in. We ended up quickly double-parking so he could go to his appointment and I jumped in his seat and drove to a shopping mall about ten mins away.

TheSnowyOwl · 20/06/2023 13:35

Parking for both local hospitals is horrendous here. It can easily be 45 mins to queue to get into the car park, let along finding a space.