Petition for new car park at the JR

Mon 12 Jul 2021, 20:48

Obviously a need for additional parking - so the demand is there?  It would be interesting to know the number of staff that actually pay to park and the value this creates £££ . Free parking would be a bit like a well deserved pay rise for the hard work our wonderful NHS front line staff have contributed during the pandemic. 

Mon 12 Jul 2021, 16:49

Would you believe that when the JR2 was built the Oxford council believed that people / patients would use public transport to go to the hospital. Thus they refused permission for a new road from the bypass to the JR2. Illustrates how little they understood about people!

Mon 12 Jul 2021, 12:11

If car parking is subsidised at a hospital then bus fares should be too – especially given that, on average, poorer people are more likely to take the bus, and less likely to own cars, than wealthy people.

Perhaps appointments at the JR could come with a free bus voucher? There might not be any need for a multi-storey car park if more people took the bus, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the cost of free tickets on buses would be cheaper than building a multi-storey.

Mon 12 Jul 2021, 08:49

Yes Mark,

the average charge for staff to park at the JR is £250 per year.

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 19:51

Charging to park in a hospital at all is to me, immoral. 

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 17:02

“

It is also self-defeating that appointment letters for the JR tell you to ensure they come early if by car, due to the parking difficulties, meaning the average person that manages to find somewhere to park, is doing so for far longer than necessary” but just think of all the extra “income” that generates . . .  Kris

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 15:56

I'm not sure that a multi-story car park alone will solve the issue but then again, telling people to just use the park and ride instead is definitely not either! 

It would be great if more of these "routine" appointments could be dealt with remotely or at local surgeries by getting consultants to travel to local surgeries. 

I'd also like to see a designated drop off and collect parking for patients not using an ambulance.  I've had to take relations to the JR for conditions that prevented them from being able to walk independently, from a bus stop even.

 It is also self-defeating that appointment letters for the JR tell you to ensure they come early if by car, due to the parking difficulties, meaning the average person that manages to find somewhere to park, is doing so for far longer than necessary. 

Wouldn't it be better to have an improved door to door service that doesn't rely on solely on volunteers and is communicated as a service only to be used as a last resort? My Grandfather used this service years ago and it was an 8 hour return trip for a 30 min appointment!

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 14:20

The train and bus service from Oxford station has served me quite well on several occasions.

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 12:29

I agree with Leah about the excellence of P&R service from Parkway/Water Eaton to JR -- except at weekends when no buses run at all. 

I would support some -- reduced -- service at weekends; less keen on the notion that there should be fewer stops on the 700, as suggested by Angus B. Those with reduced mobility need plenty of stops, and should not need to change buses en route. 

I an presuming that the proposed P&R at Eynsham will go ahead, and hope that this would also include buses to the JR. 

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 11:16

The parking is and has been diabolical, and should not be chargeable - its like a tax on being ill. Do the wonderful NHS staff have to pay to park at their place of work ? Oxford City Council object to increasing parking allocation at the Churchill Hospital and encourage Public Transport, which in the majority of cases doesn’t work from anyone except city dwellers ! In my opinion 

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 11:06

I would be keen to sign a petition for a speedier P&R from Parkway to the JR - like the restricted stop service that goes from Pear Tree to the city centre. The problem with the 700 is that it can call at every stop and seems to take such a long time.

There is no way I would support more car parking space at the hospital.

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 10:43

Indeed Helen, but I've been waiting a year for an appointment at an Oxfordshire hospital (probably the JR) and while I'd use public transport to get there, I've been referred to Warwick as the closest hospital that can actually see me. 

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 09:10

I always use Park and Ride, excellent service! 

After treatment one can always get a taxi back to P& R  

Sat 10 Jul 2021, 08:00

We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful centre of excellence & world class research, but the truth is most of us will attend the JR for more ‘routine’ issues. Maybe the solution is a better use of satellite sites - many of which already exist - such as the Horton. That keeps traffic away from the JR completely. Also better use of technology - I had a follow up appointment with a JR consultant via video call during lockdown. Far better than having to attend the hospital - much better use of time and resources - I hope it continues.

Fri 9 Jul 2021, 22:49

The extra housing coming with the developments at Oxford North & Woodstock will increase the JR overload - time for a 2nd hospital to be built?

Fri 9 Jul 2021, 17:12

Personally, the absolute last thing I would want to have to negotiate prior to a hospital appointment - already a huge source of stress - is a Park and Ride! I will sign the petition in case I ever have need of the JR. 

Fri 9 Jul 2021, 11:04

I have worked there for 15 years (and still do). I bus from Charlbury because I do not fit the criteria for a permit.

The Trust were allowed 200 extra spaces when the Radcliffe Infirmary closed.

Even if a multi storey could be built who will pay for it? They cost millions - should it come from precious NHS resources that are already stretched? 

Fri 9 Jul 2021, 10:45

Yes Richard, it's the infrastructure around the JR (or lack of it) that has dictated the Council's stance on limiting the number of parking spaces. Having done work for the JR for the past 20 years I don't believe the total number of spaces on site has been allowed to increase in that time. We put in a parking deck behind Tingewick Hall and Molecular Medicine but that was for staff parking only, and even then another parking area was removed to maintain the overall numbers on site.

Fri 9 Jul 2021, 10:38 (last edited on Fri 9 Jul 2021, 14:23)

I fear that adding more parking spaces would be fruitless without demolishing large swathes of north-east Oxford to widen the approach roads. It’s not just the JR car park that’s full, it’s the nearby roads too – particularly Marsh Lane and Headley Way – and more parking will just make that worse.

In retrospect the new Barton Park development (over the other side of the A40) was a missed opportunity – a Park & Ride there, with an electric shuttle bus for the half mile to the JR, would have been a neat solution.

Fri 9 Jul 2021, 09:53

Well I have signed, it is really is distressing at the moment, the queues, the stress and the missed appointments. Here is a direct link to the petition https://www.change.org/p/oxford-university-hospitals-nhs-foundation-trust-to-build-a-multi-story-car-park-at-the-john-radcliffe-hospital-oxford-1f88fc48-bf0b-44b8-9f95-2667c4bef6df. 

Relying on park and ride would add another hour to your travel from Charlbury, it is just not feasible.

Fri 9 Jul 2021, 09:37

The council may approve a multi storey but will not increase the spaces. Waste of money. The council want people to use the Park and Rides or public transport. 

Thu 8 Jul 2021, 22:52

There’s a petition asking for a multi storey car park to be built at the JR.  If you agree that the current parking is inadequate you can sign it at change.org and enter John Radcliffe Hospital into the question box.