Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust to keep car parking charges ‘under review’ after price hike

Princess Alexandra Hospital has defended its increased parking charges, but has not ruled out a review.

From June 1, a new pricing structure was introduced at the Harlow hospital, with rises of up to 176%.

Parking for visitors is free for the first 20 minutes after entering the hospital site. Then the new charges apply: up to 1 hour, £3.50; 2 hrs – £5; 3 hrs – £7; 4 hrs – £8 (up 176% on the previous £2.90 fee); 5 hrs – £9; 6 hrs – £10 (up 150% on the previous £4 tariff); 7-12 hrs – £12; 12-24 hrs – £15 (up 150% on the previous £6 cost).

Tom Burton, Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust’s chief financial and infrastructure officer, made it clear that the new regime was introduced reluctantly as the best solution to cover costs and manage demand.

“We undertook a review to look at what other local hospitals were charging. We have agreed on a baseline that we hope will meet a number of objectives,” he said.

“Firstly, we are increasing prices, partly to raise more revenue to invest in car parking to benefit our patients and visitors.

“It will also address the actual cost of covering the car parking because we need to maintain the infrastructure and essential costs such as security patrols.

“Also, as part of the green initiative to protect our environment, we are keen to encourage people to use other means of transport to access our hospital sites where possible.”

However, he added: “We’re not taking this decision unilaterally without listening to our patients. We’ve engaged the Patient Panel in this decision and we are keeping under review the charging and any feedback that we receive.”

Free parking arrangements remain in place for registered Blue Badge holders, parents/guardians who need to stay overnight with children, patients who have regular appointments and other exemptions. Patients who are unsure about their eligibility for free parking can contact the parking team at paht.carparkingandsecurity@nhs.net.

Mr Burton said that the trust had already noted a “slight improvement” in car park capacity, which in turn would reduce double parking – a key safety issue and one of the main reasons patients are fined at the site.

He added that out-of-hours pricing, such as offering discounts in the evening, could be considered in the future as an alternative to the current flat tariffs.

“It’s something we’re keeping under review,” he said. “We’re totally cognisant that increasing car parking [charges] was never going to be a popular move… but it’s something we felt we ultimately had to do.”