the client
Operated by Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust, Tewkesbury Community Hospital offers inpatient and outpatient services, a Minor Injuries Unit, x-ray and ultrasound services, occupational therapy and physiotherapy.
It offers free parking to patients, visitors and people working at the Hospital. Being located near to the town centre, the car park has been open to abuse by motorist parking there and walking into the town centre to work or shop, thereby reducing the spaces available valid users.
the challenge
Signs put up in the car park, reminding people that it is for hospital use only, seem to have failed to solve the problem, so it was necessary to find another solution for effective access control and controlled access. It would require the fitting of barriers at all entrances and providing some means of preventing unauthorised parking while, at the same time, minimising disruptions to patients, visitors and staff.
The transitory nature of patient and visitor car park users would make a parking permit scheme costly and time-consuming to operate as well as being inconvenient for users.
the solution
Gloucester based, ASGuk Safety & Security Systems were contracted to provide a working solution. Alongside their automatic barriers, ASGuk provided Nortech’s FeeMaster Smart parking management system. A FeeMaster entry station was fitted at the entry barrier to automatically issue entry tickets to visitors as they arrive. The entry barrier opens when the visitor takes a ticket. Three FeeMaster Smart operator consoles were installed at key locations within the hospital building, where exit tokens can be issued to valid users by staff members. A FeeMaster Exit station was fitted at the exit barrier. For vehicles to be able to leave the car park, the driver must present either the entry ticket (issued at the entry station on arrival) within the 10-minute grace period (for taxis and motorists dropping someone off), or insert an exit token issued to valid car park users when they attend an issuing point within the hospital building.
This system makes the use of the free parking facility by genuine visitors to the hospital simple and secure, while avoiding abuse of the parking facility.
the benefits
- Minimum disruption during installation
- Simple, easy to use parking system
- Prevents abuse by unauthorised motorist
- Minimises disruption for patients and visitors
- Low operating costs
- Operator Consoles can be easily relocated
customer's comments
"We selected Nortech because its systems were the right fit for the hospital’s short and long-term needs. The products provide an easy solution to the ongoing parking problem and fitted the criteria for what the client wanted, including reduced cabling. We have known Nortech for many years and are very happy with how the system works, their technical support and the end result achieved for the client. We will most certainly continue to use Nortech products on future projects."
Chris Vokes Technical Sales - ASGuk Safety & Security Systems
