May 20, 2022 5.00 pm This story is over 22 months old

‘Staff only’ section fenced off to visitors at Lincoln County Hospital car park

Staff can no longer use visitor spaces
Staff only parking at a temporary fenced off section of Lincoln County Hospital car park.
By Local Democracy Reporter

A section of Lincoln County Hospital’s car park has been fenced off for staff use only, in a bid to try to offer more access to visitors following space issues brought on by repair works from the fire at A&E.

An area of the car park has been sectioned off to the public, offering spaces only to staff members at Lincoln County Hospital.

This has been done for a number of reasons, including trying to open up more spaces for visitors by stopping staff using their spaces – instead offering them a section of their own.

It is also a direct addressing of reduced spaces brought on by the recent fire at the A&E department of Lincoln County Hospital, which caused severe damage to a treatment room.

Some in the community are suggesting blocking off an area of the car park to visitors would have the opposite effect and instead leave people struggling for spaces, though United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust remains confident these changes will improve options for patients and visitors.

A hospital spokesperson said: “Across our sites, we have a limited amount of car parking, from which we need to balance being able to provide enough spaces for both our patients and staff to park their vehicles.

“Recently we have seen a reduction in the number of available spaces due to building and development work taking place and the siting of mobile diagnostic equipment required as a result of the recent fire at Lincoln County Hospital.

“We have tried to minimise the impact of this and temporary changes have been implemented to release more spaces for visitors as we balance everyone’s requirements. Previously staff were able to park in any of the visitor spaces, and we hope that by limiting the proportion of spaces for staff to a particular area, more will be available for visitors.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and looking at a range of ways to expand our car parking capacity for both patients and staff in the medium-term, while developing a travel plan for our Trust to explore the longer-term options available to us.”