The Guernsey Press spoke to drivers accessing the hospital car park yesterday morning, with all of them saying they often struggled to find a spot.
Francoise Ferbrache, who was attending the hospital yesterday for a routine check-up, said she had made sure to turn up half an hour ahead of her scheduled appointment time so that she gave herself time to park.
‘Parking at the hospital has been a problem for years,’ she said.
‘Last week I had to take someone to the Emergency Department and we were driving around for ages.’
‘Eventually we just had to park on the end of a row which was a bit naughty, but we had no other choice.’
She said sometimes she parked at a friend’s property nearby and walked to the hospital.
‘If more and more people are using the hospital, which seems to be the case, then more parking needs to be made available,’ she said.
Jean Le Pelley, who volunteers at the hospital on trolley duty once a week, described the parking situation as ‘totally horrendous.’
‘I’ve had to circle around three times this morning before getting a space,’ she said.
‘I find it hard to believe that all the cars parked here are service users.’
While she said she did not face a problem every week, she believed there should be more designated parking for patients, as there was for staff.
Shane Burtenshaw, who was attending the Emergency Department, said he did not often need to come to the hospital, but when he did, he estimated he was not able to find a place to park 85% of the time.
‘If you’ve got an urgent appointment, like I have today, it can be really difficult,’ he said.
‘I’ve got lucky today, most of the time that isn’t the case.’
In an email sent to islander Daryl Howe, who was fined last week for parking on a yellow line while attending an appointment with his wife, Health & Social Care said it recognised the challenge site users faced when it came to parking.
It is urging people to use other travel options, or to leave plenty of time ahead of appointments to find a space, rather than parking on yellow lines.
It added that parking spaces often became available as the day progressed, meaning requesting an afternoon appointment if there was a choice rather than a morning one could be more favourable.
HSC said that if no spaces were available in the car park outside Bulstrode House, spaces could be found in the main car park, which, while being a short walk from the entrance, could be used by drivers who were dropping a patient off.
The committee said that more spaces could be freed up when The Guernsey Institute moved from the PEH to the new campus at Les Ozouets.
But it has said that there is no finance available to look at creating further parking spaces.
It added that healthcare staff were encouraged to use public transport, or cycle or walk to work.
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