PARKING charges at Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH) will be increased from September as part of plans to “improve” traffic flow.

Proposals to shake-up the hospital’s car parks system as part of wider work to alleviate traffic problems in the area were approved at Wednesday’s meeting of Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals trust’s board of directors.

The trust’s chief operating officer, Richard Renaut, said that the changes brought charges into line with other hospitals and were still lower than Bournemouth council facilities.

Under the measures approved on Wednesday, from September 1 charges will rise by about 10 per cent with minimum parking time limit increased from one to two hours.

Overnight charges will come into force half an hour later than under the existing system and will go from £1.50 to £2.20.

The board also gave the go-ahead for the installation of ANPR cameras to monitor flow through the hospital’s car parks and for more free drop-off and pick-up points was also agreed.

Speaking at Wednesday’s meeting, Mr Renaut said: “We have not changed our parking charges for quite a few years now.

“Bringing them into line with other hospitals and below charges at council car parks is, I think, very reasonable and it will allow us to improve the flow in an out of the site.

“There was opposition when we last made changes three years ago but I think that people have generally accepted what we did.”

Royal Bournemouth Hospital has 1,905 parking spaces – a level which has been capped by Bournemouth council as a way of restricting the number of vehicles using the site.

The trust is in the process of creating a travel plan to outline how it will contribute to reducing congestion in the area which a report to the board said was required before it would be allowed to further develop the hospital.

“A travel plan, showing how the trust will contribute to reduced congestion is going to be essential for the planning applications required for the Clinical Services Review (CSR) reconfiguration,” a board report said.

“Without an agreed travel plan and reduction in congestion RBH will not be permitted increased developments.

“Whilst the new junction will help in three years, it will also bring with it new developments and traffic, and so is not a panacea.

“Therefore, the trust will need to show a robust set of actions on how travel to and from the site is shifting travel patterns away from single occupant cars.”

However, the decision has been criticised by the Patients Association.

Rachel Power, the charity’s chief executive, said: “Charges for car parking at hospitals are a charge on people who are unwell, levied on them because they are unwell.

“We believe that patients should not be effectively charged for being ill.

“Enabling patients to access hospital services should be an integral part of the patient care in hospitals.

“However, parking charges currently generate revenue for hospitals, at a time when their finances are under immense pressure and the quality of care for patients is falling.

“The top priority for any new NHS funding should be patient care.

“At a time when patients are receiving undignified and unsafe care on hospital corridors, car parking charges are not the top priority – undesirable though they may be.”

Following Wednesday’s approval, the new charges will be put into place from September 1.