If you’ve used Royal Oldham Hospital recently, you’ll know parking is a real problem. My team & I hear it time and again from patients, visitors and staff – I’ve experienced it myself.
There simply aren’t enough spaces on site. Even where extra parking has been found nearby, the long walk up Sheepfoot Lane is tough especially if you’ve got mobility issues or you’re already understandably under stress.
Then there’s payment. Machines that only take coins (no change), no contactless, and a reliance on apps, often in poor lighting, bad weather or with patchy signal. That’s not acceptable at a hospital, where people are often anxious, rushing, or dealing with difficult moments.
Across Greater Manchester there’s also a postcode lottery on parking charges. At Royal Oldham, patients and visitors pay £1 an hour. At Salford Royal, a larger hospital in the same Trust, it’s 66p. That doesn’t feel fair.
I’ve been digging into the figures through Written Parliamentary Questions. Last year, Northern Care Alliance took in over £5 million from parking, with a reported surplus of over £600,000. Yet meaningful improvements to access and payment still haven’t happened.
So I’ve written to the Northern Care Alliance calling for a fundamental review of parking at Royal Oldham, starting with fairness and access. I won’t support balancing the books on the backs of patients, visitors or staff.
This needs to be designed around the people using the hospital, not managed through fines, frustration, or higher charges.
We’ll keep pushing this with the Trust, alongside the Royal Oldham Hospital Car Parking Campaign, Mayor Eddie Hardaker and Cllr Dr Zahid Chauhan OBE.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 