Results of their NHS Hospital Car Parking research included information from 138 Freedom of Information responses, they identified the best and worst NHS hospital car parks in England.
Which? rated hospitals against criteria they knew were important to car park users: support for priority patients; fair charging systems and flexible payment options; and communication with users about car parking policies.
For the second year running, Which? research found that 73 per cent of people who have a used a hospital car park in the past two years experienced a problem. The main problems involved stress, concessions, cost, priority spaces, payment methods and capacity.
In light of the research, they have the following three key demands of NHS Hospital Car Parks:
1. Fair charging systems and flexible payment options.
o Allow pay on departure, as well as pay and display.
o Allow payment by card as well as coins and cash.
o Fair and proportionate costs and penalty mechanisms; no clamping or towing.
2. Support for priority patients.
o Provide enough designated parking spaces to ensure priority patients are able to park easily.
o Offer concessions on parking fees for regular visitors and those in need.
3. Talk to patients and visitors.
o Discuss what they want and take action on their needs.
o Proactively provide clear and accessible information about concessions.
Please see the attachment for further details of NHS Hospital Car Parking brief.
For more information on this research, to see how your local hospital scored and to support Which?'s campaign for better NHS hospital car parks visit: http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/food-and-health/hospital-car-parks---have-your-say/the-which-research