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FOI Request 2066 - Car Parking
Written by FOI Lead   

Case Number 2066
Request Date 19/03/2010

Details of the Request

Information about Car Parks:
  • Capacity;
  • Payment Mechanisms;
  • Payment Types;
  • Penalties;
  • Ownership;
  • Complaints;
  • Information;
  • Charging and Profits.

Completion Date 13/04/2010


Details of the Response

Thank you for your request to Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust regarding Car Parks.


The Trust’s response is as follows:

Capacity
  1. How many spaces are currently available in all your car parking sites in total and how many of these have been allocated for:

    1667 in Total

    1. disabled spaces  – 42
    2. for priority parking for other groups, please specify? – None

       
  2. How many:

    1. in-patient admissions – 34,000 planned, 23,000 emergency
    2. out-patient appointments – 300,000
    3. bed spaces have you had in the last financial year (or equivalent 12 month reporting period)? – 550

       
  3. For which of the following people does your hospital provide priority parking:

    1. patients with mobility problems (e.g. Blue Badge holders) – Yes
    2. patients attending A&E – Car park next to A&E
    3. women in labour – Car park next to building
    4. other, please specify


Payment mechanisms
  1. Which of the following payment mechanisms are in place in your main car park?

    1. Pay and display – Yes
    2. Barrier mechanism and payment on departure – Yes
    3. Other, please specify

       

Payment types
  1. Which of the following payment types are offered to the users of your main car parks?

    1. Coin only – Yes
    2. Debit or credit card only – No
    3. Debit or credit card and coin – No
    4. Other, please specify – Notes and coins in pay on foot car parks

       
  2. If you accept payments in coins at your main car parking facility, do you have a change machine at close proximity i.e. within 200 metres of the car park?

    No

     

Penalties
  1. How many times have any of the following penalty mechanisms been used with respect to any of your hospital car parks in the last financial year (or equivalent 12 month reporting period)?

    1. Parking ticket with financial penalty –  None
    2. Clamping – None
    3. Towing – None
    4. Other, please specify

       
  2. In the last financial year how much income have you of the company operating your car park(s) generated in total from (i) car parking fees (e.g. pay and display) and (ii) penalty mechanisms (e.g. fines, clamping release fees)?

    1. £830k
    2. Nil

       

Ownership
  1. Who manages your main car park? (e.g. the Trust, a contractor or a PPP).

    The Trust

     

Complaints
  1. How many complaints has your hospital received in the past 12 months on hospital car parking from users (not including staff members)?

    4 complaints

     

Information
  1. Please describe how you inform users of your car park about your concessionary car parking policies, including whether such information is provided

    1. in notices in the car park, –  Yes
    2. in the hospital wards, – No
    3. on your hospital's website –  Yes
    4. in correspondence to patients (e.g. appointment letters) – No
    5. any other medium, please specify - 'Staff caring for patients will inform them and /or their families if they are entitled to specific parking concessions (see answers to question 12).'

       

Charging and profits
  1. In each of the last three financial years, have your car park(s) operated

    1. at a profit; – Profit in each of the last 3 financial years
    2. at a loss; or
    3. on a break even basis?

       
  2. Please give full details of the fee charging structure in the hospital’s main car park (i.e. different rates and parking periods available) and whether there is a minimum charge in place.

    • Up to 2 hours –  £2.00 (This is the minimum charge)
    • Up to 3 hours  – £2.50
    • Up to 4 hours –  £3.00
    • Up to 24 hours –  £5.00
    • Up to one week –  £10.00

       
  3. Do your car park(s) cap charges or have season tickets for any patient groups? If so, which patient groups benefit, and under what circumstances?

    Weekly permits are available to regular visitors at a cost of £10.00

    Three weekly NICU parking permits available at a cost of £10.00

    Patients attending the Oncology and Haematology Day Units are entitled to free car parking for the duration of their treatment at the Trust.

    Weekly permits are available to regular visitors at a cost of £10.00

    Three weekly parking permits to parents visiting a baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) available at a cost of £10.00

     
  4. How much total profit, if any, did your car park(s) make in the last financial year (1 April 2008 - 31 March 2009 or equivalent 12 month reporting period)?

    Profit in year ended 31/3/2009 was £ 666,000. This is ploughed into the hospital’s budget to provide clinical care etc.

     
  5. Do you reimburse patients for the additional car parking fees or penalties they have paid if appointments are delayed for reasons beyond their control? Please provide details of how this system operates. If so, what percentage of claims were reimbursed in your hospital in the last financial year or equivalent 12 month reporting period?

    We do not ticket vehicles/drivers that overstay.

     
Other
  1. What is the average length of stay of your car park users?

    Less than two hours

     
  2. What is the maximum distance patients and visitors will have to walk from a car park space in your main car park to hospital entrance?

    Approx 200 yards

     
  3. When did you last consult

    1. LINks  – Within past two months
    2. inpatients and outpatients  – Within past two months
    3. the local wider community on the hospital’s car parking arrangements?  – Within past two months

       
  4. When did you last review your car parking arrangements and when are you planning to review those next?

    A review is currently taking place

     


Last Updated ( Monday, 16 May 2011 11:21 )