To just miss appointments as can’t park?

[Wishitwascooler]

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!

Hospital parking is a disgrace. We have a hospital near us that opened in Nov 2020 (new build). The part of the hospital where A&E is has about 10 parking spaces. The main hospital has quite a few more but nowhere near enough at busy times, and there is absolutely loads of empty space on yhe site around the hospital and car parks so they could have built more. When I arrived at the hospital to have my baby my contractions were only a minute apart and I had to go in on my own as my partner had to park the car miles away. Luckily a kind lady in the hospital lobby took pity on me and asked staff for a wheelchair so she could wheel me up to the labour ward at the other end of the hospital.

Lots of people on here with no empathy as to how hard it can be to take off loads of time from work and/or to spend £££ on a taxi.

It is a maternity appointment. Work has to allow you time off to attend. That time includes the time beforehand to allow you to get to the appointment on time.

There was no reason to climb over walls so I am afraid I have no sympathy for that part and indeed why are you putting your child at risk by so doing?

Plan: leave early/use public transport. Your appointment so you sort out getting there. Not the hospitals fault. Also yeah eventually they would and should DNA people if everyone turns up late. It’s there to provide health not parking like someone else said

When you live rurally it is not always possible to get a taxi. Bus services here take over two hours for what is 20/30 minutes in the car and then not to the hospital. There is no where near the hospital to park and walk.

My husband was in a wheelchair and even with a blue badge it was not possible to find a space and that is with leaving plenty of parking time. I couldn’t drop him off as I needed to push the chair

Yes agree . What happened to empathy? Not everyone has the luxury of having money for taxi ,in a job where you can just piss off for a few hours for OPA or have the knowledge that parking is a problem!!

I drive 30 mins to another hospital rather than 4 mins to my local one. It's actually quicker when you allow parking time!

My step father needs regular hospital appointments. He’s nearly 80 and diabetic.

The difficulty of getting there (he needs to be driven, has poor mobility and uses zimmer frame), the fact that there’s no parking ever available, and the amount of waiting around once he gets there (often 3 hours), and subsequent exhaustion (my mum does give him a drink and food to go with) has led him to the conclusion that he would prefer to just go blind than attend these hideous appointments. It isn’t because of what goes on in the actual appointment, it’s the admin of getting there and waiting and the fact that it’s basically an all day fuck around. So he is indeed going blind. The hospital just asked him to sign a form to that effect - no acknowledging the situation or any attempt to rectify.

We make hospital appointments hideously difficult to attend. And these are the consequences. We are 3rd world. Ought to be able to ring up, book appointment, drive and park, not wait an unreasonable time on arrival and then get on with your day. But no. It’s always hideous. What an embarrassment for our country.

I recently took my brother when he had just done a mega leg/ankle break. Getting him into the building was almost impossible. Had to abandon him on the pavement as close as I could get to the door (I put a kitchen chair in my car for this purpose). Then I had to go and park some distance away, pay a load, run back to him. Tell him I was going in search of a wheelchair. Then return to him with it and get him in and struggle to push him in at a snail’s pace (he’s double my weight). This is a LARGE TRAUMA UNIT! And it’s fucking impossible to get into.

I have to take my son to a couple of local hospitals every six months or so - one of them I'd allow an hour to park, the other at least 30 minutes. But I take a day/half day of annual leave to take him in so at least I don't have to negotiate with work!

We had an appointment a few months ago and had to wait for ages to park, then when I did finally find a space, some cheeky fecker in another car (behind me in the queue to get in) came knocking at my window to ask if I really needed the space because if not, could he and his wife have it? I'm not sure if he thought I was driving around a hospital carpark for recreational purposes...

Friends recommend the Justpark app, and I see it's been mentioned upthread - might be worth giving that a go, OP.

No, hospital parking shouldn't be reserved for staff and BB holders. What an utterly stupid thing to say.

And in Dublin we are 7 years into a 3 year project (nowwhere near finished yet) to build a new national children's hospital right in the center of the city which has no parking and is a billion (I kid you not) over budget now with maybe, nobody actual knows, another 300 million to go. And some of us pressed for it to away from the city center for National accessibility, parking etc, but those living in Dublin won the day. There is a tram line that you can get with your sick child from the M50 that takes about 30 minutes, so all good aparently.
It used to be the most expensive hospital per bed built in the world. It's now just the most expensive hospital built in the world.
But no parking except for consultants and staff.
So I'm not sure the very real issue of accessing hospitals is actually a priority for anyone.

Work have to allow me the time off to attend the appointment - although they bitterly resent it - but not the time before. My appointment was at just before 12, they wouldn’t have given me the whole morning off to go!

Sorry to hear of others’ struggles. At least i made it albeit late and no harm done as the staff were also late!

Public transport?

I have a hospital within walking distance - parking is a well known nightmare, I've been dropped off there and walked back or just walked both ways. Unfortunately, most appointments are in the large hospital, 1.5hrs or so away by bus, or £25 each way in a taxi but only takes half an hour. Part public transport part taxi would probably take longer than just staying on the bus.

Every time I've caught the bus it's been delayed or got stuck in traffic on the way there. And I can't afford £50 for one day's transport.

Yes, hospitals provide healthcare, but surely that healthcare needs to be accessible, bearing in mind many people trying to get to appointments are unwell in some way.

Why? They should. With a drop-off not exceeding 5 minutes, airport style.

In an ideal world, of course you'd build enough hospitals an in the middle of empty land accommodating car parks for thousands of cars and unlimited public transport for everyone who can't drive to hospital.

It's not going to happen, we are not going to bulldoze through existing houses. It would be easier to provide transport so no one expects to drive, and park.

The Scottish government in their wisdom scrapped car park charges at hospitals. In the big hospital in Glasgow, this means you have to be there AT LEAST an hour before your appointment. Was the same at the old children's hospital, the hours I spent circling the car park waiting for someone to leave.

Buses are a pain here too. There's no through bus from where I live any more. Even when we had one it never coordinated with my appointments - just one an hour in each direction - so I'd spend a fortune in the coffee shop!

@filingpapers good idea about Just Park!

YABU to miss hospital appointments. What a waste of NHS resources. No wonder the NHS is on its knees.

I rather think I am the one on her knees after scaling a wall at 36 weeks pregnant to get to said appointment!

No but they do still have to allow adequate time for you to get to the appointment on time slot that would include time to find parking. It doesn't matter how sniffy they get you tell them you have an appointment at x time and you need to leave at your to get there on time.

Yep, it's a nightmare. I work in the NHS. I have endless sympathy for people who are late because I know the nightmare!

This week. Biggest hospital in Glasgow, one I never work in but I know is busy. Maternity appt. Arrived 1hr early (because I know how awful it is and thankfully my appt was at 930am so I didn't have to get out of work early) and circled every single car park - no spaces despite the attendants checking those trying to get in had appointments. Ended up being late anyway, BP through the roof as I was so stressed and nearly got admitted! Managed to convince them to let me calm down and check it again!
And no public transport isn't an option when you live in a village with one bus daily and are required to drive for your day job, which you'll be going to after the appointment anyway.

Anyway it's a nightmare and you have my sympathy.

Most appointments occur throughout the day. Are parents who take their children to appointments supposed to take a full day off work and school to allow for public transport times?

I'd need to walk almost ten miles to get to my nearest bus stop. On roads that don't have pavements, and a speed limit of 60 mph. The bus comes twice a day. Unless, of course, I walk another couple of miles with a small child in tow to the next bus stop.

Your suggestions are ridiculous. "Airport style" drop offs indeed.

But the problem is that if lots of people park up 1.5hrs early then there will be even fewer spaces available. It's not very efficient.