Aiming for a seamless experience

Phillip Herring, managing director at specialist in hospital parking management, Indigo, explains how a combination of the latest technology and ‘bespoke’ customer service can ensure that NHS sites’ parking facilities are user-friendly, safe, and sympathetic to the needs of patients, staff, and visitors.

Up and down the country, thousands of visitors and patients come through the doors of some of the UK’s busiest hospitals, and, for the majority, it is not the most pleasurable experience. The first and last impression of a hospital is, of course, not the waiting room – it’s the car park. Providing a smooth transition from the road to the hospital car park, and back again, is perhaps one of the most important factors in providing a positive patient and visitor experience outside of the hospital walls.

With car ownership on the rise in the UK, car parking is set to form an increasingly important part of the overall planning and transport strategy for hospital Trusts across the country. Maintenance of parking spaces, for example, is an essential, but also a potentially costly area for any NHS Trust, but including parking at the heart of future planning for hospital sites can have a significant impact on overall access, patient and visitor experience, staff morale, and the availability of space for core services.