Mark Isherwood
North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood is calling on Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to consider a new car parking system at Glan Clwyd Hospital.
Mr Isherwood wrote to the Health Board after being advised by constituents that the car parks at the Bodelwyddan hospital are “jammed full” and patients and volunteer staff are having to park outside the hospital grounds.
He has suggested that the Health Board consider adopting a ticketing system like that introduced at Wrexham’s Maelor Hospital, whereby visitors obtain a parking ticket for two hours, then if a) a ticket is not displayed, or b) the visitor exceeds the two hour duration, the private company employed by the hospital issue a fine of £70.
If the visitors are longer than two hours they have to prove that they have genuinely been delayed and the ward staff or appropriate departmental staff can provide this information upon request accordingly.
Mr Isherwood said:
“The current situation at Glan Clwyd is totally unacceptable and the Health Board must take action to remedy the problems, which seem to have arisen since the abolition of car parking charges at the site.
“A constituent whose wife is suffering with cancer told me that he was unable to park so he had to drop his wife off at the Cancer Centre.
He emphasised to me that if it had been a day when they both had to talk to the Consultant and check that the chemo was working properly then he would have been very worried.
“My constituent described how people are now parking on double yellows all over the locality because they are desperate. He states this is rather ironic as there was a huge emotional push to remove the charges, citing how terrible it was for worried patients and family to pay.
“From what I have been told by constituents – and in my own experience – the system at the Maelor is working far better than the situation at Glan Clwyd and I therefore wrote to Peter Higson, Chair of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, accordingly. In his reply he told me that he has asked for the Wrexham option to be considered in the response that is being prepared for me.”
