Yahoo News Exactly how much more it will cost to park at Nuneaton's hospital
Nuneaton's hospital bosses have explained the decision behind the rise in staff and visitor car park charges. The new charges come into force at the George Eliot Hospital from Thursday, February 20.
It will see patients and visitors asked to pay 50p more on every charging rate, while staff will see a monthly permit rise from £13.50 to £18 every month. The new charge coincides with a change in all car parks - to a new ANPR system.
Dr Catherine Free, the hospital's managing director, said that they did not want the cost of this to reduce key services, so set-up consultations to come up with a way to keep parking costs reasonable while being paying for the new system.
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"We will still be one of the cheapest hospitals around to park at," Dr Free said. "But we felt that we didn't want the cost of the changes we are making to improve our parking for patients and staff, as we have problems with availability of spaces, to take away frontline services.
"So that is the compromise we are having to make."
The new patient and visitors charges as of February 20
Up to 30 minutes - free
30 minutes to 1 hour - rising from £2.50 to £3
Up to 2 hours - rising from £3.50 to £4
Up to 3 hours - rising from £4.50 to £5
Up to 4 hours - rising from £5.50 to £6
Up to 5 hours - rising from £7.50 to £8
Up to 6 hours- rising from £8.50 to £9
Up to 24 hours - rising from £12 to £12.50
Dr Free added that the decision about the increase in charge was taken following consultation with staff groups at the hospital as well as the patients forum.
Ahead of the change, new signage and information will begin to appear around the hospital.
