Car parking is a clinical quality issue

I had great sympathy with David Gilbert's mum's agitation as a consequence of parking issues when attending a hospital appointment.

I wonder how many of my community based colleagues share my pain and frustration when trying to visit patients where parking is restricted to residents only. Twice in the last 4 months I have been ticketed despite displaying my position as a vsiting GP and which house I was in. The first I appealed successfully but was advised the ticket was correctly issued, the second no quarter given. Pay up or go to court. I have been advised that I can have a yearly parking ticket for £15. Is this how we are going to work in partnership with our local councils?

Not much to pay I know but really?

Thank you for this article. It took me back to 20 years ago to my time in a Clinical Audit department, when we were eventually dissuaded from asking about car parking in patient satisfaction questionnaires as there was 'nothing that could be done about it'. The irony is, that hospital has since amalgated all wards and services to a newly built single building with most of the potentially useful entrance access area landscaped into an open air piazza unsuitable for all except the rare hot sunny days that the area in the Midlands receives. Dropping off elderly relatives involves incurring the wrath of the parking attendants keen to point out it is drop off only, leaving your patient sat on a bench outside (weather permitting, see above) while you trek back from the multistorey. Needless to say in 'normal' weather the tiny entrance is clogged with people taking shelter. Shame that nothing can be done about this for the next 20 years plus either.

Have suffered similar problems with car parking & access to hospitals & other health provision both myself and in accompanying others.

Usually if I am having to see a medical professional I am unwell and/or feeling somewhat stressed before I get there - which I think is often forgotten. So not always feeling my best or worried about someone else difficulties in accessing buildings compounds this & I am often not at my best when in the appointment.

I would suggest that planners & providers of services walk through access (literally) in the eyes of the patients, or better still work with patients at the planning stage to really get an appreciation of 'walking in their shoes'. A very different perspective will be revealed that if dealt with can make patients' experiences much less stressful & can optimise any resulting clinical care.

It is not just car parking that is a quality issue.

If, as a consequence of the drive to 7 day working, services will be redesigned, merged and some sites closed, then the wider issue of transport needs to be included in the redesign process. Not everyone has a car and the public transport system may be infrequent or not match appointment times, especially in rural areas. Taxis can be expensive, especially for longer journeys in rural communities.

So it is essential that transport planning, in partnership with local authorities & providers, must be considered from the beginning of the redesign process.