The car park at the Royal Surrey
A new parking system involving number plate recognition will be launched at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, on Thursday, May 8.
The hospital authorities say the new system will benefit visitors and patients because they will only pay for the time they actually spend at the hospital without worrying about parking tickets running out.
The Automatic Number Plate Recognition system (ANPR) is barrier-free and works by capturing the registration number of every vehicle as it enters and exits the hospital grounds.
The system is linked to on-site payment machines, allowing visitors to pay for their parking when they are ready to leave, based on the exact amount of time they have spent at the hospital.
Tom White, the Royal Surrey’s Director of HR with executive responsibility for estates and facilities, said: “The introduction of ANPR will enhance the parking experience for both patients and visitors. We understand that it can be difficult to predict the length of time for an appointment or visit. With ANPR, patients and visitors will only pay for the time they actually spend at the hospital, without worrying about parking tickets running out.”
New payment machines are being installed in the front entrance lobby, Cedar Centre and Day Surgery Unit, with more being planned for a later date subject to feedback.
To pay, visitors will simply need to enter their registration number at the machines. There will be no need to pay in advance or display a ticket in the car. Payment options include cash, card, contactless and a free downloadable app.
Visitors can drop off and pick up passengers for up to 20 minutes without charge.
The hospital says the introduction of ANPR will not affect free parking for registered Blue Badge holders or concessions for other patient and visitor groups. Those eligible for free parking will need to register their vehicle at a validation terminal in the hospital when they visit, or they can register online for a long-term permit.
Further details about the new system, including the location of validation terminals and instructions about how to register blue badges online, will be available on the Royal Surrey website in due course.
John Lomas
April 9, 2025 at 4:56 pm
How long after you have paid will you be allowed to get to your car perhaps have to get a child (or children) or an infirm passenger settled in and than have to queue to get to the exit camera route?
It wasn’t at a hospital but I have had the experience of being confronted by an exit guardian because there was too long a time between paying for my ticket where the machines were on the ground floor exiting a shopping mall then waiting for, and getting, a lift to the top of the multi-story followed by having to queue down the exit ramps. The queue was actually getting worse because he was querying everybodies “overstay”.
Nigel Keane
April 10, 2025 at 1:11 am
The problem with this new scheme is that it can take longer than 20 minutes to find a space when the car park is busy. I find that I can take at least 30 mins of driving around the car park before I can locate a space. I always try and arrive early because of this. The only people I can see benefiting will be the car park operators if they try and enforce a penalty fine for taking more than 20 mins before booking in.
Roslyn McMillan
April 10, 2025 at 1:40 pm
This sounds a much fairer system than the present one. Let’s hope it works well.
Warren Gill
April 15, 2025 at 8:20 pm
It would work well if they employed barriers to stop access to the car park when it is full and then only allowing entry once a space is available.
A bit like Castle Hill MSCP on Sydenham Road in Guildford town centre, that should stop them levying fines.