PRI parking is now ‘chaotic’

Jan 30 2009 by Jenny Wood, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PATIENTS have hit out at the car parking chaos blighting the local hospital and preventing those in need getting access to sought-after spaces near the medical hub.

At the time many welcomed the lifting of charges at PRI, believing it to make a fairer system, but pressure on free parking spaces is driving patients away from the hospital and those in need still face a long walk back to the hospital.

But some hospital workers have also complained, disgruntled about limits on the parking spaces they manage to bag.

One patient, a mum-to-be forced to park streets away spoke out about the problem.

“If anything things have got worse at PRI,” she said.

“It is a ridiculous situation and it’s really not fair on the patients; the ones who really need the spaces.

“I was driving round to find a space the only ones I found were for those with staff permits but confusingly I also saw staff using the patient car parks.

“There were no spaces in the car parks patients could use so I was forced to park in a street away from the hospital grounds and struggle back for my appointment. There has to be a fairer system than that. The system just isn’t working,” she added exasperatedly.

Another patient who battled to make an out-patient appointment on time added: “It’s absolutely shambolic.

“People circle the car park looking for a space but in the end you have to park streets away and walk. What’s going on there?” he blasted.

But from the other side of the fence, one PRI worker recently complained to the PA about parking being curtailed for staff.

“Since the abolition of car parking charges at PRI the maximum stay is now eight hours.

“This means that many staff members who work for longer periods have to leave work to move their vehicle and buy another ticket to avoid paying a £60 fine,” explained the worker.

“This involves, for example, first level nurses, medical staff and all grades of staff that do not have a parking permit.

“We all agree patients and relatives should not have to pay, but then why should staff,” questioned the member of staff.

According to NHS Tayside figures the staff to patient and visitor parking is split 371 spaces for workers and 294 for other hospital users and disabled drivers. And a spokeswoman for the health board explained the system is clear: staff parking is for hospital workers and other spaces are designated specifically for patients and visitors.

Mark Scholes, head of support services at Perth Royal Infirmary, said NHS Tayside does monitor the car parking situation closely and moves had been made to ease pressure on patients trying to parking.

“Car parking arrangements at PRI changed from December 31, 2008, when charges were removed and new car park management arrangements introduced,” he explained.

“Following a local review in partnership with staff side representatives, time limited parking has been introduced including three-hour zones to improve access for patients and visitors. Also, 50 additional spaces were allocated to patient and visitors parking by taking them from staff car parking.

“This means we see a higher turnover of spaces throughout the day to maximise the availability for those attending hospital for outpatient appointments or visiting inpatients. Early indications are that these changes have proved successful,” he said.

Mr Scholes continued: “For members of staff, dedicated areas in the car park have been identified and are available for staff who display a formal staff car park permit. This is to prevent abuse of these spaces by non-hospital users.

“PRI also has a Travel Plan which encourages public transport use for all, which includes the bus link between Ninewells and PRI which runs hourly.

“We believe that these changes at PRI represent the best approach to the difficult issue of balancing the needs of staff, patients and visitors who require ready access to hospital facilities.”

And he pledged: “We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”