LONG and short stay parking will now be offered at Crosshouse Hospital – but patients and visitors have been warned wardens will be watching.

From this Friday (September 25), the hospital will be introducing a new car parking scheme. The scheme, approved by the NHS Ayrshire and Arran Board earlier this year, will have designated long and short stay car parks for patients, staff and visitors. Parking wardens will also make sure cars are ‘parked appropriately’ and advise drivers about the availability of spaces. John Wright, Director for Corporate Support Services, said: “We know that our car parks can get very congested and this new scheme will help to alleviate this. “We have created an additional 205 spaces at University Hospital Crosshouse, bringing the total number of places to 1,917, including 89 disabled spaces.” According to NHS Ayrshire & Arran the main benefits of the proposals are patients and visitors will be able to park closer to the main buildings; the car parks will be less congested; clearly designated car parks, based on length of stay, for staff and patients; and all car parks will be compliant with health and safety legislation.

At Crosshouse, the short stay car parks will be located at the East car park (to the right of the main hospital entrance) and the car park beside the main disabled car park. The long stay car parks will be located at Ayrshire Maternity Unit; West car park (to the left of the main hospital entrance); Lister Centre car parks; and Lister Street and surrounding areas. The short stay car parks will have a time limit of three hours and the long stay car parks will be for people who need to park for longer than three hours. Mr Wright added: “We know the work has caused some disruption over the last few months, and so I would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during the period of work. “Next month, we will be introducing a similar car parking scheme at University Hospital Ayr. “Look out for more details for when these improvements will be introduced.”