HOSPITAL PARKING
A better first experience for patients and visitors
Given that the first experience many patients and visitors have of a hospital is the car park, ensuring that parking in such facilities is as stress-free, smooth, and convenient as possible is a high priority for healthcare estates teams. Here, Mark Anfield, Operations director at car park management specialist, ParkingEye, explains how the company has deployed ‘next generation’ parking technology to greatly improve the car parking experience at the Manchester Royal Infirmary site.
The first experience that many patients and visitors have of a hospital is the car park.
Each week thousands of patients travel from across the UK to attend hospitals operated by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. The Trust provides a diverse and complex range of healthcare services, with nine hospitals on six separate sites offering a range of medical treatment and support – ranging from children’s dialysis to outpatient dental care.
Today, visitors enjoy a stress-free car parking experience at the Manchester Royal Infirmary thanks to ParkingEye, and a free-flow ANPR solution which enables a seamless journey to the more important part of their day – their visit. However, only 12 months ago, the story was very different. People visiting the hospital were facing queues, finding it difficult to secure a space, and experiencing problems paying, amid regular breakdowns to the barrier system, which all combined to create frustration and stress. Tom Higgins, Car Parking and Security manager responsible for 17 sites, explains the challenges the Trust was
48 Health Estate Journal February 2019
facing: “Our board was aware that we were dealing with a multitude of problems caused by the parking system we had in place at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. The situation was starting to detrimentally impact the experience of patients and visitors to the hospital. On average, we welcome 250,000 cars through the site each month, and needed to ensure that we were providing as smooth a start to the journey with the Trust as possible, whatever the reason for visiting.
“ParkingEye works alongside us, like an extension of our own team. They go through the detail to deliver a solution which really fits the way we work.”
‘The new barrier-less site environment allows for a completely free-flow experience’.
‘A stressful situation made worse’ Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest acute Trusts in the UK, employing more than 20,000 staff. It is the main provider of hospital care to approximately 750,000 people in Manchester and Trafford, and the single biggest provider of specialised services in the North West of England, including a children’s hospital, dental hospital, and eye hospital. Patients already apprehensive of attending appointments were finding a stressful situation made worse by not being able to park, with many of the car parking spaces being used by staff, further compounded by huge queues being caused by a barrier system. The car parking situation was, in short, causing very serious problems for the Trust, and risked impacting negatively on its reputation.
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