Patients hit by car park rises

PATIENTS and visitors to Ipswich Hospital will have to pay more to park after an overhaul of the organisation's car parking procedures.

As reported in The Evening Star yesterday, a host of controversial proposals regarding staff car parking have come in to force this month.

However, there has been little publicity about the fact that the cost of car parking for the public has also risen.

One concerned patient, who had visited the hospital yesterday, said she was astounded to find that the parking cost for two hours had risen from £2 to £2.50.

She said: “I always have my money ready when I go up there and make sure I have the right amount of change but I was shocked to find it had gone up.

“I managed to scrabble around and find the extra change in my car but there were several elderly people who were very confused by it. It's them I feel sorry for.

“People have enough on their minds when they get to the hospital.”

Jan Rowsell, hospital spokeswoman, said signs had gone up throughout the hospital to warn people of the proposed changes - which were part of the hospital's efforts to raise more money to put towards its £24m debt.

She said: “The charges have not gone up for several years and the change was part of a package of proposals designed to help us use our car parks better.

“We have also introduced a parking enforcement agency who will be making sure people have the right ticket.

“We know that the vast majority of people who use the car park use it very sensibly but it is open to abuse.”

Other car-parking changes introduced yesterday include raising the price of staff car-parking from £3 a month to £15 a month.

How will the changes affect you? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk>

Existing New Charges Duration

50p 60p 30 minutes

£1.00 £1.20 1 hour

£2.00 £2.50 2 hours

£3.00 £3.50 3 hours

£5.00 £6.00 4 hours

£8.00 £9.00 6 hours

£10.00 £12.00 Over 6 hours