Black Country hospital 'committed to improving parking experience' with concessions

A Dudley hospital has issued notices to make patients and visitors aware of parking concessions it offers, amid huge demand for places and high numbers of tickets being issued,

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust said it is “committed to improving the experience” of people visiting Russells Hall Hospital, which adopted ticketless automatic number plate recognition parking enforcement last year.

Last month a report to a Dudley Council committee said the hospital recorded more than 2,500 contraventions of parking regulations in just one month earlier this year.

And the trust’s group director of communications apologised earlier this month after councillors heard that a priest giving a patient his last rites received a notice despite paying for parking.

Laura Broster told councillors on October 5: “The current parking experience at Russells Hall Hospital is not good enough and we are sorry for the frustration and distress it is causing for our patients, our visitors and our staff.”

Now notices have been put up at the hospital setting out parking concession options.

The new signs read: “As part of our ongoing work to improve the parking experience for patients and visitors, we want to remind all staff about the free and concessionary parking options available.

“Free parking for frequent outpatient attenders: patients who attend outpatient appointments at least three times within a 30-day period, for an overall period of at least three months, may be eligible for free parking.

“Free parking for parents and guardians of children staying overnight: parents or guardians of a child or young person under the age of 18 who is staying in hospital overnight can receive free parking between 7.30pm and 8am while visiting their child.

“Seven-day value cards for regular visitors: patients and visitors making multiple trips to the hospital over a short period may benefit from a seven-day value card.”

Learn more about parking at Russells Hall Hospital, including free or concessionary parking options, at https://www.dgft.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/getting-here/russells-hall-hospital/.