Plans for possible Peterborough City Hospital park and ride scheme put on hold due to coronavirus pandemic

The hospital’s chief medical officer Dr Kanchan Rege told city councillors in November that the idea would be investigated to try and alleviate parking problems at the site in Bretton.

However, the strain of tackling the pandemic has meant the potential scheme has been put on the back burner.

Dr Rege, chief medical officer at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland hospitals, said: “We are continuing to manage Covid-19 at the trust, and therefore looking into the possibility of introducing a park and ride scheme to help alleviate car parking pressures at Peterborough City Hospital has been paused temporarily.

“Since the reintroduction of visiting restrictions we have not seen the levels of strain on our car parks as we did pre-pandemic. However, the issue of car parking on site is still very much on our agenda and we are hoping to investigate all options again later in the year.”

The provision for parking at the city hospital has been a continual problem, with the trust revealing last year that it is planning to use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology across its sites.

The ANPR screening will be used to ensure that only approved staff cars are parking at the three hospitals.

The proposal was one of a number put forward in the trust’s Green Travel Plan, which includes: appointing a project manager, developing an agreed approach for charging, discussing a new entry/exit point at the city hospital with Peterborough City Council, installing electric charging points, revising a car lease scheme and finalising an agile working policy.