24 January 2017

Discounted parking is available for some patients using Shropshire’s acute hospitals – and parking is free of charge for up to 30 minutes.

The free 30 minutes gives people picking up and dropping off patients or visitors to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) or Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford an option to do so without incurring a charge if they are onsite for less than half an hour.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs RSH and PRH, is providing the update about parking at the two hospitals as some people are not aware of the free 30 minutes or the discounts available.

Julia Clarke, Director of Corporate Governance at SaTH, said: “Parking charges at SaTH are still among the lowest in the country, with people able to park for up to 30 minutes without charge, and paying only £3.50 for five hours or more. The 30 minutes without charge is useful for people who could drop off and pick up patients without incurring any parking charges.

“Patients receiving dialysis, radiotherapy or chemotherapy and people visiting hospital for issues connected with bereavement are able to park for free. Anyone needing to attend hospital regularly can buy a discounted 10-visit ticket for £8.

“The income we receive from car parking also benefits our patients. Annually, the money we receive  from car parking pays for the equivalent of 40 Staff Nurses.”

The Trust is also looking at ways to improve car parking at the hospitals, and is working on a number of initiatives to support staff to travel to work in more sustainable ways.

Julia added: “We continue to explore ways to improve car parking at our hospitals as we appreciate it can be a challenge for patients, visitors and staff.

“Both hospital sites now have an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system to manage car parking.

“This system is designed to deliver key improvements, including a range of more convenient ways for people to pay on exit, including debit and credit card payments, improving the flow of vehicles to make spaces available for those who need them, increasing security, and allowing parking attendants to concentrate on helping visitors rather than enforcement.  You can also pay online once you get home before midnight on the day of your visit and make multiple visits on the day up until midnight without additional costs.  Please visit our car parking page at www.sath.nhs.uk for more details.

“During the daytime our car parks are often busy because we have a large number of outpatient clinics. Parking spaces are more readily available during the evenings and weekends, when fewer clinics are operating, so it would be a great help to patients coming for their clinic appointments, if visitors who can choose when they can visit their loved ones came in the early evening instead.”

Efforts to support staff to find more sustainable ways to travel to work include:

  • Lift-sharing – SaTH runs a dedicated lift-sharing service for staff, which allows them to sign up to a system and look for colleagues they can share lifts to and from work with.
  • The Trust has invested in improved facilities to encourage cycling and walking for staff.
  • SaTH has negotiated discounts of up to 20% for Arriva for bus tickets for staff.