PARKING will remain free at all hospital car parks throughout the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board area.

However, the health board has announced some changes which it says will improve access to hospital sites.

During the pandemic, the health board lifted all parking restrictions temporarily, but increasing on site activity has led to higher demand for car parking spaces.

This has resulted in difficult and unsafe parking conditions and increased congestion on site.  

From December 1, patients and visitors at University Hospital of Wales, University Hospital Llandough, Barry Hospital and St David’s Hospital will need to park in designated patient car parks and comply with local on-site parking regulations.

All staff who wish to park will need to ensure they have a permit to give them access to specific designated staff parking areas.  

Parking remains free for all users and will continue to be managed by ParkingEye.

Those in breach of parking restrictions may be subject to a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) of £70.

To ease the demand on parking spaces and improve access, the health board has reinstated its free park and ride service at both University Hospital of Wales and University Hospital Llandough.

The service is operated by Cardiff Bus and is free for patients, visitors and staff. 

Professor Stuart Walker, interim chief executive of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said: “We are very aware that demand for car parking is considerably higher than the number of spaces we can provide. 

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“In line with our commitments to sustainable travel we do not have plans to build more car parking spaces. Instead we are investing in greener alternatives including the Park and Ride which is free for all our patients, visitors and staff to use.

“All our sites are accessible by public transport and many staff are now cycling or walking to work where they can. We also have Next bike points at UHL and UHW which are a low-cost alternative to owning a bike. 

“As part of our long term strategy we are treating people as close to home as possible meaning they will not always need to visit our sites and instead can receive treatment in their local community. Furthermore, we have saved a number of staff miles through flexible working which has reduced the number of vehicles coming to our site each day.”