Parking at the Trust's hospitals

Visitors' parking spaces

• St Helier Hospital: 254 (including 56 disabled bays and 11 drop off and pickup spaces);

• Epsom Hospital: 258 (including 32 disabled bays, 7 drop off and pick up spaces);

• Sutton Hospital: 109 (including 20 disabled bays and 8 drop off and pick up spaces).

Read more about car parking for people with disabilities

Visitors' charges

£2 for the first hour (free for first 20 minutes), and then £1 for every 30 minutes afterwards to a maximum of £12 per 24 hours.

Payment at St Helier and Epsom hospitals is on exit of the barriered car park, but Sutton Hospital is 'pay and display' due to the visitors' car parking being spread out over different locations on the site.

Parking concessions

There are a number of visitors' parking concessions in place:

• Outpatients who visit our hospitals three times or more per week are eligible for a £5 per week discounted rate.

• Patients receiving haemodialysis are eligible for a £5 per week discounted rate.

• Relatives of patients who are hospitalised for longer than a two-week period qualify for a £10 weekly discounted ticket after the initial two-week period.

• Parents staying overnight on our paediatric wards are eligible for a £5 per week discounted rate.

• Immediate family or next of kin visiting patients in any of the following service areas qualify for a £5 per week discounted rate: intensive care unit; high dependency unit; coronary care unit; neonatal unit.

• Cardiac rehabilitation patients who visit the hospital on an eight week (plus) rehabilitation programme are eligible for a £5 per week discounted rate.

• Outpatients who are receiving oncology treatment and who visit the hospital two times or more per week are eligible for a £5 per week discounted rate.

This information is available at payment machines, all wards and departments, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and online on our website (this page).

The form to apply for a car parking concession is available online, or from the car park office. Once completed, please return it to the car park office.

To further support patients, the hospital travel costs scheme provides financial assistance to those patients who do not have a medical need for ambulance transport, but who require assistance with their travel costs.

Under the scheme, patients on low incomes or receiving specific qualifying benefits or allowances are reimbursed in part, or in full, for costs incurred in travelling to and from our hospitals.

The Trust will always endeavour to see patients at their allocated appointment time. There may however be occasions where this is not possible for reasons out of our control.

Consideration has been given to patients using the car parks and if a patient has not been seen within one hour of their appointment time the maximum charge payable will be £2 (one hour). This can be arranged through the clinic at the time of visit.

Barriers at the entrance to the car park for patients and visitors

To ensure that all vehicles parking on Trust sites do so legally and properly, we operate a policy of applying Parking Enforcement Notices (PEN) which will be carried out by our appointed car park management contractors.

Vehicle owners should be aware that this policy will operate within all parking areas on the following sites:

• Epsom Hospital;

• St Helier Hospital;

• Sutton Hospital.

Signs and notices are prominently displayed in all car parking areas that PENs are in force.

Only authorised vehicles may park in restricted areas where appropriate. Failure to comply will result in the vehicle being issued with an enforcement notice.

Restricted areas for the purpose of this policy shall be classed as: 

• bays marked for disabled badge holders only;

• areas marked for specific vehicles e.g. ambulances;

• any area marked for specific usage e.g. drop off bays;

• any area that has been coned off as restricted;

• boxed areas marked in yellow paint;

• double yellow line painted areas.

'Blue Badge' drivers wishing to park in a restricted bay for disabled drivers must clearly display a government issued disabled permit and time clock in the windscreen of the vehicle. Failure to do so may result in the vehicle being issued with a PEN.

Parking Enforcement Notices appeals

Any person believing that there have been mitigating circumstances surrounding their vehicle being issued with a PEN may appeal in writing. Details are contained on the Notice.

All appeals will be heard on a fortnightly basis by a management and staff side appeals panel.

The result of all appeals will be notified to appellants within two weeks of the Panel's decision. The decision made by the Appeals Panel is final.

Free electricity for electric and hybrid cars

Our hospitals are among the first NHS hospitals in the UK to start offering free electricity to patients and visitors driving electric or duel-fuel ('hybrid') cars in April 2012.

Special charging units in the car parks allow people to charge their vehicle for free, whilst they attend an appointment or visit their friends and family in the hospitals.

With two of the state-of-the-art charging points at St Helier, two at Epsom and one at Sutton, drivers of cars such as the Toyota Prius, Nissan Leaf and Vauxhall Ampera are able to use as much electricity as they need, without having to pay a penny for it.

Each charging unit forms part of the sophisticated Chargemaster network and is capable of charging two vehicles simultaneously. Drivers who are part of the scheme are issued with an electronic ID card - which works like an Oyster card - to enable them to access the machines and charge their car.

For more information, read the press release.

Car park income

Our car parks are not run as a commercial operation. All the money generated from them goes directly to:

• maintaining the car parks (including security patrols and CCTV);

• the Trust's sustainability programme (ensuring we are as green as we can be);

• the management of the service including staff, cash handling, land rates and charges (including rent of land the Trust does not own);

• travel plan initiatives;

• the staff shuttle bus.

Any additional income is directed to clinical services, supporting the work of the Trust.

Green travel plan

A green travel plan is a package of measures designed to reduce the number and length of car journeys generated by a site. A travel plan can address a range of travel types such as employees commuting, business trips and visitor travel.

A few years ago the Trust found itself in a position whereby the demand for car parking spaces far exceeded supply. This caused serious traffic congestion, queuing and frustration when patients and visitors were unable to access the Trust's hospital sites, and in particular, emergency vehicles were often impeded by the resultant congestion.

The Trust, therefore, explored various options in an effort to solve this problem. In line with central government guidance, an environmental travel plan was introduced, aiming to reduce the number of single occupancy vehicle journeys for all user groups, including patients and visitors.

The level at which car parking charges are managed and set is an integral part of this initiative, in that it encourages car users, both staff and the public to explore viable alternatives.

It is worth acknowledging that access to the Trust's hospital sites has significantly improved since the introduction of the travel plan, but the Trust still experiences problems associated with levels of car use.

The Government and the Department of Health are actively encouraging organisations to adopt workplace travel plans to encourage staff to consider more sustainable travel options and reduce the reliance on single occupancy car journeys.

Information regarding transport links and the travel plan is available on our website, Travel Plan notice boards and bus timetable leaflets on display throughout our hospitals.