Stockport NHS Trust has responded to a petition over parking at Stepping Hill Hospital.

The petition, organised by staff, set out concerns in response to changes to the parking system at the hospital.

Among those changes were the introduction of barriered staff car parks, enhanced enforcement, and revised permit allocation (whereby permits were given out based on whether staff met certain criteria).

In light of the changes, the petition asked for Stockport NHS to: increase the number of designated staff car parking spaces; introduce flexible parking to account for staff with young children or disabilities; and re-evaluate its subcontract with the current parking enforcement company.

In a letter responding to the petition, Karen James OBE - Chief Executive of Stockport NHS Trust - said the parking changes had been introduced to make parking onsite safer, fairer and more accessible.

The trust pointed out that prior to the changes, the site was often unsafe, with frequent obstructions to emergency services, gas supplies, and fewer spaces for patients and visitors.

As for parking enforcement, Stockport NHS said such services were 'essential' in keeping the site safe.

"The decision to re-introduce parking enforcement was made as our site was no longer safe, due to inappropriate parking", Karen James said.

In terms of additional spaces, the Trust has said it opened an overspill car park in October this year which provided an additional 50 spaces, and that it plans to open a second overspill car park in March next year with 180 additional spaces.

Although the trust said that Stepping Hill has started to see the 'right flow' of visitor and staff parking, it added: "Ultimately, it must be recognised that there is simply not enough space on our site to ensure there is the capacity for every person who wants to park their car."

And for flexible parking, the trust said it is listening to people's concerns, and that the parking team is correspondingly using these to "continually review and adjust the approach".

Stockport NHS will also soon test a proposal to restrict the opening hours of one of Stepping Hill's staff car parks to a later start time.

Concluding the response, Karen James said: "Thank you for raising your concerns, and we acknowledge the impact this is having. Your feedback is invaluable as we work together to address these challenges, and we will keep you updated as the next phase of the car park programme progresses."

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