Royal Berkshire Hospital trust apologises over car park issues
- Published
Faulty barriers has meant free parking at a Royal Berkshire Hospital car park
A hospital trust has apologised after staff, patients and visitors have struggled to find parking spaces.
Parking has been free when barriers have stopped working at reading's Royal Berkshire Hospital's Craven Road car park, meaning it is often full.
One nurse who was unable to park in a designated space pleaded with officials not to fine them again.
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust apologised and said it was trying to resolve the issue.
The hospital confirmed the barriers and parking meters have been working on-and-off since June.
One staff member struggled to find a designated space
The nurse left a note in the window pleading not to fined again
Last year the trust raised £1.48m from parking, according to figures from NHS Digital.
A third of that comes from staff who pay from their salary.
Lead member for Public Health at Reading Borough Council, Greame Hoskin, said: "Many of us don't think that hospitals should be charging for parking anyway.
"But this is lost income, so the sooner they get it sorted that will be money that will be coming in to pay for NHS services."
The trust apologised for the inconvenience
The trust declined to say how many days parking had been free at the car park.
They were also unable to explain why it had taken so long to fix and when the work would be completed.
A spokeswoman said: "The trust would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the increased traffic coming in and out of the hospital.
"We're aware of the difficulties that patients, visitors and staff have had securing a parking space on our site and we're working to resolve the issue."