New Cross Hospital parking under the spotlight
Hospital chiefs in Wolverhampton say they are reviewing the long-term parking arrangements at New Cross Hospital after plans for another car park on the site were announced.
Some 250 spaces will be lost when a new accident and emergency department opens in 2015 and bosses say they are already looking to offset that.
The hospital has been plagued by parking problems in recent years, with residents living nearby complaining that staff and patients are clogging up their streets.
A 250-space car park is already due to open later this year. And now plans for a second car park have been revealed. The hospital site currently houses 1,800 spaces.
Graham Argent, divisional manager of the estates and facilities department, said the trust was overhauling the long-term arrangements of the site.
He said: "The requirements for car parking at the New Cross site over the next three to five years are being evaluated at the moment by the estates development and estates and facilities teams.
"We are looking at all potential gains, for example the multi-storey car park, and how any losses will impact on the total operations of the site."
The current A&E department is located on the west side of the site, whereas the new one will be on the east side.
It is being opened to help cope with a surge in the number of patients, with the hospital dealing with 40,000 more people a year than it was designed to cope with.
And even greater numbers will pour through its doors when it takes on patients from scandal-hit Stafford Hospital, which is set to be downgraded.
Health chiefs at the site caused uproar in September last year when parking charges were doubled for short-stay visitors. Drivers now pay £2 to park for between 15 minutes and an hour – double what they paid previously.
Free parking for disabled motorists was also scrapped, while longer stays rose by 50 per cent. And staff were charged £252 to park on-site, when previously they could park for free.
A consultation is also currently being held on controversial plans to charge residents living near the hospital to park outside their homes.
It would see residents pay £40 a year and a final decision is expected in the next few weeks.
In January it was revealed that the hospital has spent almost £100,000 renting extra spaces for staff at the Prestwood Arms car park in the past four years.
