Hospital set to get extra parking
An extra 60 parking spaces will be created at Walsall Manor Hospital and visiting times could be changed in a bid to cut congestion near the site and end complaints by local residents.
An extra 60 parking spaces will be created at Walsall Manor Hospital and visiting times could be changed in a bid to cut congestion near the site and end complaints by local residents.
The hospital has been inundated with complaints from residents living near the Pleck Road site worried about the overflow of traffic near their homes.
Visitors and patients have also lodged complaints and it is hoped the extra spaces, most of which will be created behind its pathology department, will help the hospital cope at peak times.
A report to the hospital's board shows that there are problems where staff and visitors have been caught in tailbacks affecting surrounding streets.
They also say that congestion around Moat Road and Wilbraham Road means emergency vehicles are being delayed.
Visiting times, currently 2-6pm, are set to be changed with the introduction of "flexible" options to ease the number of cars on site at any one time.
The scheme is expected to cost £60,000 and provide 40 spaces in the North West car park and 20 in the Reservoir car park. Brigid Stacey, chief operating officer, said: "Spaces will be provided to the side and rear of the pathology building, currently reserved for staff parking, concentrating all visitor parking in one area and near to the main entrance."
The board is expected to approve the recommendation tomorrow.
* One of the wards closed at Walsall Manor Hospital due to the outbreak of the winter vomiting bug was reopening this afternoon. Bosses said the Sandpiper Ward would reopen after there were no new cases of Norovirus overnight. The hospital has 10 patients affected by the bug.