Shrewsbury and Telford hospital parking charges revealed
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has unveiled its proposed new car parking charges.
The new tariffs will be a tiered charging structure offering a range of rates for different lengths of stay to replace the current £2 flat charge per day.
The tariffs approved by the Board include free parking for up to 30 minutes and the time period for the lowest tariff has been extended from the one hour suggested in the original proposal to two hours.
The new charges will be:
- Up to 30mins – Free
- Up to 2hrs – £2.50
- Up to 5hrs – £3
- Over 5hrs – £3.50
- Weekly ticket – £8
The Trust says, no decision has been made as to when the new charges will come into effect but it is likely to be towards the end of the calendar year.
Interim Chief Executive Steve Peak said: “The Board agreed it needed to find ways to lessen the impact of the original proposals – particularly in the current economic climate. The Board made some important changes to reflect the feedback we have heard.
“Firstly, we are aiming to make it a lot easier for people to pick up and drop off relatives by offering free parking for up to 30 minutes.
“Secondly, it is clear that one hour for the lowest tariff is not long enough – particularly if your appointment is delayed. So this period will now be extended to two hours. That covers the majority of visitors to our hospital sites and it means they will see an increase of no more than 25% from £2 to £2.50 to park for up to two hours.
“Thirdly, we need to do a lot more to advertise the range of concessions on offer, which mean that in many cases, visitors need pay no more than £8 a week to park. Many patients can also have their travel costs reimbursed through the hospital travel costs scheme.”
