Naval Row: A New Way to Park near Canary Wharf
Hozah opens Naval Row, a 130-bay barrierless car park beside East India DLR station, bringing a long-disused site back into use for drivers across east London's Docklands.
4 weeks ago
There is a moment most people recognise. You are late, anxious, and trying to find a space in a hospital car park. The person you are visiting is already upstairs. The meter is running. The spaces are full. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you are calculating whether the fine will be worse than being late.
This is not an unusual experience. It is the standard one. And for NHS trusts across England, it represents a failure hiding in plain sight, one that affects patients, damages staff morale, and quietly undermines the mission of organisations that exist to care.
What the data shows
The scale of the problem is not anecdotal. Data obtained from just 17 of England’s 207 NHS trusts with car parks revealed that more than 25,000 parking fines were issued to staff in 2024 alone, with the true figure almost certainly much higher given many trusts either do not separate staff from visitor fines or use third party operators who declined to share data. (Channel 4 News FactCheck)
A Freedom of Information request covering Royal Oldham Hospital revealed that in 2024 the site issued 4,040 parking fines and 2,133 warning notices. Of 1,204 appeals received, 358 were upheld, meaning almost one in three resulted in cancellation, a strong indicator of widespread incorrect ticketing. The same data showed that while 3,000 staff hold parking permits, only 1,037 staff spaces exist on site, creating a shortfall of over 1,700 spaces on weekdays and nearly 2,000 at weekends. (The Oldham Times)
At least one in four NHS trusts in England raised their parking charges between 2022 and 2024, prompting the Patients Association to warn that the rises were unfairly penalising people simply for being unwell and needing access to essential healthcare. (BBC News)
These are not edge cases. They are the result of a system under pressure, trying to balance stretched budgets against the needs of the people it serves.
The human cost
Behind the data are people. In south London, a cancer patient coordinator accumulated nearly 200 parking tickets over several years, totalling around 15,000 pounds in fines. After the free parking introduced during the pandemic was removed, she struggled to cover the 600 pound annual permit cost on top of a mortgage that had nearly doubled. (Channel 4 News FactCheck)
“I have got colleagues that don’t want to go to work anymore as it’s just not worth the hassle and the anxiety that they’re facing.” NHS nurse, Royal Oldham Hospital
A mental health nurse at Royal Oldham Hospital described colleagues battling daily anxiety over whether they would find a space, with some saying they no longer wanted to come to work because of the stress the situation had created. The Royal College of Nursing has responded by calling on the government to reinstate free parking for NHS staff in England, bringing it in line with Scotland and Wales where charges have largely been abolished. (BBC News)
The argument that parking revenue is reinvested into patient services is not wrong. But it does not address the underlying operational failure. Revenue generated through fines issued to staff who cannot find spaces is not a funding model. It is a symptom of a car park that is not being managed well enough.
An operational problem with operational solutions
The conversation about NHS parking tends to focus on charges, who should pay, how much, and whether it is fair. That debate matters. But it obscures a more tractable problem: most hospital car parks are simply not managed with the tools that exist to manage them well.
When a car park has no real-time occupancy visibility, drivers circle. When there is no intelligent permit management, staff without spaces end up parked in areas that trigger automatic fines. When payment systems are opaque or poorly maintained, patients and visitors overstay without realising it.
Around 78% of all NHS parking spaces in England are located at sites that charge for visitor parking, and roughly 75% of staff spaces are at trusts that charge staff too. (House of Commons Library) That is a significant revenue stream. But the operational infrastructure managing that revenue often lags well behind what the technology now makes possible.
ANPR-based entry and exit. Digital permit management that updates in real time. AutoPay systems that remove the risk of overstay fines for patients who lose track of time during an appointment. Occupancy data that tells estates managers where pressure is building before it becomes a complaint. None of this is experimental. It is available now, and it is being deployed in retail, hospitality, and higher education settings across the UK.
The NHS deserves the same.
What good looks like
A well-managed hospital car park does not generate headlines. Patients arrive, find spaces, pay fairly, and leave without incident. Staff know where to park and are not penalised for turning up. Estates managers have visibility across the site and can respond to problems before they escalate.
That is not an ambitious vision. It is the baseline. And for the majority of NHS trusts in England, it remains out of reach, not because the technology does not exist, but because the investment case has not been made clearly enough.
Hospital car parks are not a peripheral issue. They are the first and last experience most patients have of a trust. Getting them right is not a luxury. It is part of the job.
For NHS estates managers and asset managers looking at how modern parking management can reduce complaints, improve compliance, and deliver better outcomes for staff and patients, reach out to us with the button below
