"Having to pay for disabled parking"

Dear golfrw46,

Thank you for making contact and giving us the opportunity to respond to you regarding your concerns about the changes to parking. I am sorry to hear of your frustration in using the remodelled Goderick Street carpark. While the responsibility for the design and management of the carpark, is not with the Hospital but with the Metropolitan Access and Parking Department, we are of course concerned with the experience and access of our patients at Royal Perth Hospital. I have provided an explanation below to the reasons behind the changes, and hope that this provides some clarity and assurance that careful planning and consideration was undertaken when making these changes.

Prior to the alterations in the Goderich Street carpark, the 6 Acrod bays available did not meet with current size and layout requirements of Acrod as they were inaccessible for our patients with side load wheelchair vans. There was also restricted parking for ambulances attending with wheelchair and stretcher bound patients. The changes made have ensured that the bays now meet all these levels of access, plus allowing for the addition of 8 more spaces.

I acknowledge in particular your concern in relation to the issue of a parking payment and time-limit. Unfortunately, as this carpark was set up previously, many patients were using the spaces for very long stays limiting their availability for other patients. The absence of fees was also inconsistent with the costs incurred by our other patients and visitors around the campus including those using the Acrod bays in the multi-story carpark.

We understand that sometimes visits may take longer than 4 hours. If you do find yourself in the position of requiring to stay longer than the 4 hours allocated, please inform the receptionist of your registration number and by doing this, the Metropolitan Access and Parking Department will confirm your appointment with them and can ensure that no infringement fine will be issued.

I acknowledge that the Acrod bays are now further from the clinic and this is not ideal, although we hope that the addition of extra bays and the creation of a smooth surface caters for the majority of Acrod holders.

I hope this goes someway to addressing your questions and concerns. I will ensure that your feedback is passed along to the Metropolitan Access and Parking Department for information and consideration also.

Regards

Dr Lesley Bennett

Executive Director

Royal Perth Bentley Group