Why do hospitals, most of whom have large catchment areas, make accessing them so difficult?

"The annoying thing is a different county’s Health Trust hospital is our nearest one but it is not easy to get a referral there I do not know why. It is easy to get to, loads of parking and accessible by bus and train."

Increasingly, this is becoming an issue for me. The nearest and most convenient hospital is in another health area, so is no longer the default hospital for lots of specialisms. A number of people, including me, have complained to our MP, but she's not interested.

I'm not sure what people want hospitals to do. They can't move their car parks nearer the hospital entrances. They can provide drop off points, but it just wouldn't be feasible to have parking near entrances for everybody who needs it. There could be better public transport, but that would come at a cost and I'm not sure who would be responsible. Local authorities are already stretched.

There could be more local outpatient clinics, but that depends on spaces being available. My local "cottage" hospital has, thankfully, been saved to provide that kind of provision and when new health centres are built, they have extra space for outreach work, but that's a long term project.

We make 2 bus rides. Parking has become impossible .

I have found that the main issue is having a very sick relative in hospital and visiting every day. It is so very difficult to spend an exhausting couple of bus rides day after day.

In our Health Trust there ar thee hospitals spread across the county, all with very limited parking and also very expensive.

Each one specialises so if I break a bone I have a 45 minute car ride or thee different buses. I have a 22 mile trip each month to the eye hospital. It is a rural area and buses are infrequent and none go directly to any hospital. Fortunately we have a voluntary service where you can be taken and returned by a friendly volunteer. You have to pay but it is a lot less than a taxi. A lot of areas have such schemes. A couple of months ago we had no car and no driver so I paid a taxi £35 one way. Fortunately I got a lift home.
The annoying thing is a different county’s Health Trust hospital is our nearest one but it is not easy to get a referral there I do not know why. It is easy to get to, loads of parking and accessible by bus and train.
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It’s stressing enough going to hospital without all of the stress if parking. I remember driving around trying to park knowing what a diagnosis was coming.( skin cancer) I had to park and literally run into the hospital and was too late to go in and support my husband. I eventually was taken in quite out of breath and hubby behind the curtains whilst the nurse said” do you want to tell your wife. Not ideal.

I’m sorry orlin has been so unwell lauran. Wishing him well and a hug for you.

The other bonkers thing is that there are disabled spaces close to the entrance but you are asked not to display your blue badge but to register it with reception as you are leaving and tell them your reg number so they can log it into the system and the barrier will lift automatically.

But of course this means that everyone knows that you do not need to display a blue badge so all the world and his brother parks in the disabled bays ..... and since they are nearest to the hospital, those with disabilities often finish up having to park at the furthest distance - quite quite bonkers!

Almost impossible to park near the hospital , so if I’m going for an appointment or, I catch the bus, free and almost door to door.
If I’m taking Dh, it’s a taxi and usually Dd comes with us, so she can run in and try to find a wheelchair, as Dh can’t walk more than a few steps.
It’s quite an undertaking and can make a stressful appointment even more difficult and anxious.

They built a new hospital in my local city 20 miles away about 20 years ago. Instead of starting by digging an underground car park then building the hospital on top they just plonked it down, missing a golden opportunity. Needless to say the parking is hopeless, and getting worse as the hospital expands as new departments and equipment are added.

As I cannot walk far, both because of musculo-skeletal problems and breathlessness from heart problems, I have to plan to get there at least 30-40 minutes early and sit in a queue waiting for a space to appear. There is no other way. It is crazy.

twaddle

JaneJudge

Initiatives are fine but they done solve what is currently happening. I said to my husband I think people who do not work might get there early to get parking and just ‘spend the day’

We both need to work though. I suppose he could get a taxi eventually. This is all very new 😞

There aren't any magic wands and change can't happen overnight.

Empathy is clearly not your strong point!

It is a nightmare. Our hospital was built when there were far less cars and public transport was much more reliable. Even though it is probably about 5 miles away it would be a steep walk, crossing a main road, a bus journey into town and then another bus to the hospital which goes all around the wrekin first. Then as others have said you have the long walk to whatever department you have the misfortune to have to visit. Even the staff have difficulty parking. Those with friends or family who drive are lucky enough to be dropped off but then the people who drop them off can never park so end up going home and having to come back. A lot of people Even if they own a car are now paying for a taxi. The taxi firms must be rubbing their hands together with glee. The parking fees are extortionate. The first 20 minutes used to be free just time enough to drop something off but not any longer . My elderly friend asked me to rake her to the hospital for a genocolgy examination. We got their 40,minutes before the appointment but no parking. Won't bore you with the times I circled the car park and she has a disabled pass. In the end I had to drop her off and it took me another 20 minutes to park but in a normal spot. Fortunately, they were running extremely late so was able to accompany her but she got very upset about having to go into the hospital and negotiate it al9ne.

Thank you Casdon

Sorry to hear about your husband LauraNorderr, I hope he continues to improve, and glad that he is receiving good care.

I think what annoys me is the sanctimonious hypocrisy of hospitals that have a parking problem but instead of acknowledging it just do this 'encouraging you to use public transport' and pretend that is a solution, when they know, in rural areas, many of their patients are coming long distances and that, apart from any medical or frailty problems they have, the public transport system cannot get them to the hospital and home again in a timely manner or even at all.

My wonderful Orlin has been in hospital since early March. The first six weeks very poorly in ICU and then on the vascular ward until now.
I visit every day and am very impressed with the amount of parking spaces at our superb hospital in West Cheshire. Parking for our whole family was free the whole time he was in intensive care and now I just purchase a weekly ticket for £15.
The drop off and pick up points seem numerous and well placed for the various departments although I haven’t had direct experience and won’t until he is discharged and needs follow up care.
Also just like to add that the skill of surgeons and nursing staff is amazing.
Feeling very lucky to still have my darling husband, it was touch and go for a while.
Sorry to go off topic but feeling very grateful.

JaneJudge

I wish there was a magic wand quite frankly as I think lots of people must be dying or losing their jobs at the moment if they are chronically ill and have no support. Which is what the thread is about too

I wouldn't disagree with that, but I think it's a much bigger issue than hospital parking.

Totally agree, I worked for a Hospital Trust all my career.
We had to park off site then we were bussed in, the cost of this came out of our pay every month.
I was at a staff management meeting once with other senior clinical managers. We asked why doesn't this service extend to patient? They arrived late to the appointment, stressed as they couldn't park, they clogged up the roads.
The higher powers gave us some cods wallop about costs of putting in pay machines, someone to monitor it, and the loss of revenue to the PFI company.
Please to say,in the Trust these days, the frequency of busses improved, and x2 massive multi storey car parks. But these still que's!

And fwiw I understand the point you are making but it’s political. People need practical short term solutions in order to live, stay healthy and still contribute to the economy

I wish there was a magic wand quite frankly as I think lots of people must be dying or losing their jobs at the moment if they are chronically ill and have no support. Which is what the thread is about too

Sounds like our hospital vandalism 😂

JaneJudge

Initiatives are fine but they done solve what is currently happening. I said to my husband I think people who do not work might get there early to get parking and just ‘spend the day’

We both need to work though. I suppose he could get a taxi eventually. This is all very new 😞

There aren't any magic wands and change can't happen overnight.

There are some disabled bays at our local hospital halfway up a 11% gradient hill! Once in an access of optimism I did use them & tried to push M-i-L in wheelchair back to car - for me (relatively strong for a woman) it was impossible. I had to leave her on a side path and reverse back down the hill.

The parking is awful, & basically if you are taking a wheelchair user you have to drop them off at (busy, one -at-a-time) drop off point, drive to public multistorey 5 minutes' walk away, park as quickly as you can & run back to the hospital hoping they haven't been abducted meanwhile - to pick them up, reverse above.

Initiatives are fine but they done solve what is currently happening. I said to my husband I think people who do not work might get there early to get parking and just ‘spend the day’

We both need to work though. I suppose he could get a taxi eventually. This is all very new 😞

Parking at our local hospital is a complete joke. The disabled bays are located further away than they ought to be…..clearly an able bodied individual planned the layout! If you have a mid morning appointment you need to be there very early otherwise you’ll not get a parking space! Vehicles are often double parked or parked on pedestrian areas.
Disabled people have a long walk to the entrance during which they have to walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke because people simply cannot manage without smoking a fag! 😡

I agree with keepingquiet. There are initiatives to move outpatient appointments to more local centres. I've had a dermatology appointment in a health centre, where there was plenty of parking and is also on a bus route. I've also had a number of appointments over the years at our local cottage hospital. There are also initiatives to use remote services using cameras and video. The main hospital is easy to reach with a bus from a park and ride car park. If patients have problems inside the hospital itself, they can ask for a wheelchair and escort (I know because I did just that for somebody I was accompanying).

Many years ago I worked in Nottingham, which operated a service from the town centre and the park and ride free out of town car parks, which took you to all the major hospitals by bus. I don’t know if it’s still there, but it was a brilliant service.