Parking
Changes are afoot in parking across trusts in England Kelvin Reynolds, director of Corporate and Public Affairs for the British Parking Association, explains why fair for all, but not free for all, may be the best solution to hospital parking For years newspapers, politicians and parking in hospitals in England: disabled campaigners have told us that paying people; frequent out-patient attenders; for parking at hospitals is a tax on the parents of sick children staying overnight; sick. There have been many attempts and staff working night shifts. to scrap healthcare parking charges in We welcome this more measured England including campaigns by MP’s, approach by government for England, Private Members Bills, charities and which is so much better than the free-forof course trade unions. We absolutely all that has been created in Scotland and understand why, but is it that simple? Wales, and we now sit on the Department Parking facilities at hospitals are usually of Health and Social Care Hospital Car oversubscribed and demand often outstrips Parking Programme Board to support supply. Free parking usually increases them in developing the proposals. This demand too. We have always encouraged Manifesto commitment is easy to say hospitals to consider the outcome they but more challenging to achieve, without wish to achieve when many unintended consequences. Our aim planning their parking is simple: to help the government provision to ensure devise and deliver a solution it is managed which helps to make hospital The NH S for the benefit parking better for everyone. has mo r e of everyone, We know when parking s p e r c equirem ial whether they’re charges were abolished in conside ents and a patient, r visitor or staff. most o ations than Additional offeringrganisations hospitals and car par k their parking f a c i lities ing operators must work together to ensure parking is used properly by those it is intended for and not misused. This all costs money. Where does that come from?
hospitals in Scotland and Wales, patient accessibility didn’t improve; instead spaces were taken by commuters and staff to the detriment of visitors and patients. And where parking isn’t managed properly it spills onto yellow lines, grass verges and nearby residential streets. In some cases, bus companies refused to offer a service because they couldn’t get through. The NHS has more special requirements and considerations than most organisations offering car parking facilities. Besides the obvious emergency services and A&E access, hospitals have the unenviable task of juggling the interests of patients and visitors with the needs of healthcare professionals, who understandably want convenient, safe and affordable parking when they come to work. Keith Fowler, chair of the BPA Healthcare E
Recent exemptions The UK government announced recently that from April 2020 four groups of people will no longer be charged for
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