Parking charges to increase at Walsall Manor Hospital
Parking charges are set to increase at Walsall Manor Hospital this month for the first time in five years.
Visitors and staff will have to pay more to park at the hospital site on Moat Road from October 16 as bosses look to bring charges ‘in line with neighbouring trusts’ in a bid to help with maintenance and security of its car park.
At the moment, visitors have to pay £2 for one hour and then an extra £1 for every hour after that up to a maximum of £5.
However, they will now have to pay £2.80 for up to one hour, with the cost increasing by £1 for each hour after that up to a maximum of £5.30.
New pay machines and automatic number plate recognition systems are also set to be installed on car parks at the hospital.
Chief executive of the Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Richard Kirby, said: "I understand the difficulty associated with increasing car parking charges but our charges have remained unchanged for several years and the increases we are introducing will keep us in line with hospitals across our region.
"We have also looked at our charging structures so that the increases are less for patients staying longer and less for our lower paid staff.
"We are also introducing new pay-machines and ANRP technology for our visitor car parks as part of these changes."
Free parking is still available for those accessing chemotherapy, neonatal, end of life care and some ad hoc clinics and regular visitors to the hospital can buy a weekly concessionary pass at a charge of £13 per week, which is also comparable to neighbouring trusts and local parking charges.
