Improvement plans for hospital car park

An overhaul of a hospital's parking arrangements needs to take place, its users have said.

NHS Frimley has announced plans to make "positive improvements" to the car park at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey Heath.

The hospital, which is set to be rebuilt in a different location due to being made with crumbling concrete, plans to introduce 40 new parking spaces at its existing site.

NHS Frimley says this will increase capacity by 10%, while LED lighting and improved parking bay markings will also be installed.

The new spaces will be available once the improved lighting is completed in the early summer, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The hospital will also be getting more drop off bays outside the front entrance, as well as two dedicated ambulance bays.

Investment will be made into AI-controlled and ANPR cameras to help improve the flow of traffic into and out of the car park.

New parking arrangements will be managed by an external contractor, with parking controls becoming "stricter", the NHS trust said.

At the moment the hospital car park has a "pay on foot" system, which is free for up to 20 minutes and £4 for 20 minutes to two hours.

It costs £8.50 to park there for over five hours.

Free parking is currently available for disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight and visitors with relatives who are gravely sick, terminally ill or under palliative care.

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