Harrogate District Hospital increase visitor parking charges as new car park system introduced

Barriers in the main hospital car park have been removed and cameras will identify cars on entry and exit using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR).

Visitors are able to pay for the car parking when they leave by entering their car’s registration into the parking validation machines in the front entrance of the hospital - making the process of paying for parking easier with either cash or card, or via the Evology Parking app.

Terminals are available across the hospital and at the main reception for visitors who are eligible for the concessionary or free parking that the Trust currently offers, for example for blue badge holders, patients receiving cancer treatment, or parents visiting the paediatric ward or Special Care Baby Unit.

The new barrierless system will provide a better experience for patients and visitors by improving the flow into and out of Harrogate District Hospital’s car parks and reducing the queues on Lancaster Park Road, as well as improving road safety and ambulance access.

Parking for the general public will be free for the first twenty minutes, then will cost £4 for up to two hours, £6.50 for up to four hours, £8.50 for up to six hours and £11 for up to 24 hours.

The funds gathered from parking fees allow the Trust to reinvest back into the delivery of patient care and maintaining facilities such as car parks across the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

To manage the new systems and ensure fair and accurate parking across the site, Parkingeye, the market leading operator of ANPR car park management systems, has been brought in to help maintain the rules in place on the car parks and provide ongoing support.

Parkingeye has almost 20 years of experience working on NHS sites and helping car parks to work more effectively, from cutting down abuse and misuse to ensure there’s more space available during visiting hours, to protecting staff parking across complex NHS Trusts.

Part of their ongoing support includes a specially trained appeals team to help deal with motorists that may have received a parking ticket and wish to appeal their charge.

Parkingeye retains a high level of compliance for appeals and their services are fully compliant with all British Parking Association guidelines.

The ANPR system will be expanded into Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust staff car parks in October, where staff will be charged a monthly fee to use the car parking facilities calculated on their vehicle’s emissions, their pay band and their contracted hours.

Andy Colwell, Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities at Harrogate Integrated Facilities, a subsidiary company owned by Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and who are responsible for car parking at the hospital, said “We are always looking to innovate and use the latest technology to improve the facilities we offer our patients and visitors, whether that is delivering care or ensuring ease of access for all of our service users.

“By introducing a new barrier less system, we will be able to improve the flow of cars into our car park at busy times, such as visiting hours and reduce the chance of queues of cars forming on Lancaster Park Road.

“The system will help to reduce noise and environmental pollution from cars idling outside the hospital or from the alert noise on the barriers of our current system which could affect local residents.

"The fully digital service also removes the paper waste which is produced by the current ticketing system.

“For those people who do not want to drive, our hospital is also well serviced with public transport links, so using a bus to visit our hospital is an option too.”

The Evology Parking app can be downloaded via https://www.evologyparking.co.uk/app/, Google Play or the Apple App Store.