Plan for new car park offers hope of free spaces at ERI

Published on Monday 12 October 2009 10:00

THE Edinburgh Royal Infirmary could be finally set to get free parking under plans for a new 950-space car park on the site.

Proposals for the development have been submitted to the city council and will be discussed as part of a public consultation on the future of the hospital next month.

The Scottish Government has already abolished parking charges at hospitals across Scotland but the ERI is exempt because it is operated by private company Consort – which charges up to 7-a-day.

Health bosses could not say whether parking would be free at the new car park but it is understood that because it is being led by NHS Lothian and is on NHS land, it would make it extremely difficult for them to levy any charge.

Margaret Watt, chair of the Scotland Patients Association, said today: "Free parking at the ERI is long overdue.

"If this car park is not free there will be protests to the health secretary over keeping her promise on hospital parking charges."

Tom Waterson, Unison's Lothian branch chairman, agreed that the car park should be free of charge, but suggested that this would also raise problems for NHS Lothian.

"The legislation is very clear and so it would seem that, if this is on NHS land, the parking would have to be free," he said. "I certainly think it should be free, although that would mean some staff and visitors would have to pay for parking and others wouldn't."

Such a situation would put added pressure on NHS Lothian to come to an agreement with Consort to abolished the existing parking charge, although the company have stated they would seek more than 14 million compensation to agree such a deal.

The plans have been drawn up to help accommodate the extra traffic from the incorporation of the Sick Kids Hospital and the Department for Clinical Neurosciences on the Little France site.

The new site will also make up for the potential loss of up to 800 of the hospital's existing car parking spaces as part of the new Sick Kids development.

James McCaffery, Chief Operating Officer for Acute Services, NHS Lothian, said: "The planning process for this major scheme is still at a very early stage and we have not yet determined how much parking will be provided for the new facilities.

The proposals are expected to be discussedin the week starting 9 November.