Ayrshire Roads Alliance joins NHS Ayrshire & Arran to tackle inappropriate use of disabled bays

Drivers who use disabled parking bays inappropriately in NHS Ayrshire & Arran car parks will soon be liable for a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).

From 1 May 2021, a new Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) comes into place which would make it an offence for anyone not displaying a blue badge to park in designated disabled parking bays at University Hospital Ayr and Crosshouse. The regulation will also apply to those who park longer than the stated time of 20 minutes in the drop-off areas at hospital entrances.

NHS Ayrshire & Arran are working alongside the Ayrshire Roads Alliance to encourage behaviour change by those who misuse the disabled parking bays and free these up for people who have a genuine need to park closer to hospital entrances.

Nicola Graham, Director for Corporate Support Services, explains: “Across our sites, we have almost 5,500 car parking spaces, 261 of which are dedicated disabled parking bays. Despite this, we receive a high number of complaints from service users and visitors to our hospitals that these disabled parking bays are often filled with cars not displaying a blue badge.

“Currently, the misuse of disabled spaces carries a penalty in public car parks and roads, but not in hospital sites. By introducing this TRO, we hope to discourage drivers from parking inappropriately – either in disabled parking bays or in the drop-off areas at our hospital entrances.”

Ayrshire Roads Alliance, acting on behalf of East and South Ayrshire Councils, will patrol these spaces and issue any relevant penalty notices in line with the Traffic Regulation order.

Kevin Braidwood, Interim Head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance said:  "ARA is pleased to be working in partnership with NHS A&A to help tackle this problem, to ensure those most in need can access these spaces when required and we ask for the public's cooperation in achieving this."

Nicola Graham adds: “We want to improve the hospital experience for everyone who visits our sites, and that includes the experience of those using our hospital car parks. We hope that by introducing these regulations, we can ensure that our car parks are used appropriately, and that those who need to park closer to our hospitals are able to do so easily.”