A couple has been struggling to find a disabled parking space at the Princess Royal University Hospital due to them being blocked by hospital equipment – which the Trust has said will be ongoing until 2024.
According to Christopher and Debbie Parker, nine out of the fourteen disabled spaces at the hospital in Orpington have been occupied by equipment, including a large scanner, on a regular basis.
Whilst the amount and type of equipment comes and goes, the couple estimates around half of the spaces have been taken up by equipment since the beginning of this March this year.
Debbie, 55, has no feeling on the left-hand side of her body after neurosurgery five years ago and sometimes requires additional space to transfer from their car to a wheelchair or just extra room to manoeuvre out of the vehicle.
Despite the couple's communication with the hospital on multiple occasions, the issue has not been resolved, leaving them frustrated and concerned about the inconvenience faced by other disabled individuals.
Christopher, 54, told the News Shopper: “Sometimes during our hospital visits we would notice that there was never a disabled actual space available so sometimes we had to go around in circles for a little while, waiting for somebody to pull out or alternatively we had to find the space a lot further away and then Debbie had to struggle with the extra distance.
“I’m sure there are many that have been in similar situations as us or require these spaces more that are struggling.”
Debbie expressed her concerns about the lack of accessible parking and is worried that there are people out there that heavily require the spaces who are not getting the help they need.
Christopher explained that he made his first made his complaint on March 12 and received a response a few weeks later, before making another complaint on April 3 and July 18 due to no progress.
He said that originally the hospital had not provided a clear timeframe for resolving the issue and had only offered vague responses without taking any concrete action up until recently.
A more recent response to one of Christopher’s complaints stated that the Trust is currently undergoing major refurbishments and that it expects all disabled parking bays to be returned by January 2024.
Debbie added: “If they said ‘I'm sorry about this. It's going to be here for two or three weeks or two or three months and it will all go away,’ fair enough, but this it doesn't look as though it's going to go anywhere anytime soon.
“It’s the distinct lack of empathy.
“A disabled person needs the wider space for an essential purpose. It's not because you know the luxury of opening the door. You need that facility.”
In the meantime, the hospital advises individuals with disability parking badges to make use of the other public parking spots available.
Christopher took note that it seemed to just be the disabled spaces that the hospital was using but the Trust has claimed in a statement that it is also using standard bays.
The Trust explained that the hospital is using a small area of the public car park, including disabled and non-disabled bays, to house the mobile scanners and continue providing patient scans during the improvement works.
The hospital apologizes for any temporary inconvenience caused and reassures Blue Badge holders that they can park free of charge in any available bay if the dedicated disabled spaces are occupied.
Debbie explained that general bays sometimes proved a problem for her: “If we have to park in the general bays, it is an absolute nightmare for us.
“I can't bend my knee so therefore I need to open up the car door and swing my legs out of the car rather than lift them out of the car.
“So, I didn't end up struggling trying to not knock the door of the car next to me, squeeze myself in or Christopher's to car out where all the cars are trying to whiz past you in order for me to get in. It’s not a safe thing to do.”
A spokesperson at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “While we make extensive upgrades to improve and increase imaging services at the Princess Royal University Hospital, we are temporarily using a small area of the public car park – including some disabled and non-disabled bays – to safely house mobile scanners to continue providing patient scans and support the improvement works.
“We would like to apologise for any temporary inconvenience caused, and Blue Badge holders are able to park free of charge across the hospital in any bay if dedicated disabled spaces are full.”
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