Patients and visitors who have driven to Canberra Hospital but were delayed by a hunt for parking, sometimes during an emergency - this is what the government is doing about it.
The new critical services building at the Woden hospital campus is expected to open this month with some much-anticipated additional parking.
New parking area for Building 5
An ACT government spokesperson said out of approximately 4275 parking spaces available at Canberra Hospital, more than 1100 were reserved for staff and 4 per cent (about 170 spots) for people with disabilities.
These included the Yamba Drive South car park across the road and employee parking at the former site of Canberra Institute of Technology, which were built to allow more public parking at the hospital.
For urgent situations, the existing emergency department has 12 parking spaces close by while 13 are planned in front of the new emergency department.
The spokesperson said at least 100 new parking spaces would became available this month, including 27-29 new spots near the new Building 5.
They also said more than 70 two-hour parking spaces were being built on the western side of Garran Oval. They are expected to be ready for use by late August.
"The ACT government is investigating options for more parking at the Canberra Hospital campus as part of the Canberra Hospital master plan," the spokesperson said about the project spanning over two decades.
"Parking is one of the earliest priorities in the master plan and $3 million was committed in the 2021-22 budget towards planning and design for a new car park at Canberra Hospital. This work is ongoing."
Future parking at North Canberra Hospital
The spokesperson said there were 1261 designated parking spaces at North Canberra Hospital in Bruce, formerly known as Calvary Public Hospital, and 3.5 per cent (about 44 spaces) were for people with disabilities.
The emergency department has about 16 spots available outside the entrance for people needing urgent medical attention.
The government's plans for additional parking at the northside hospital have not yet been revealed.
"Consideration of appropriate car-parking on the North Canberra Hospital campus is an essential element of a new northside hospital," the spokesperson said.
"The scope and requirements are currently being considered in the planning, design and associated stakeholder engagement."
Illegal and double parking
Double parking in public parking spaces at Canberra Hospital and North Canberra Hospital was not a common occurrence, the government spokesperson said.
But people facing unforeseen circumstances like appointment delays were allowed to apply for a parking exemption.
"If attending Canberra Hospital and you are required to overstay the sign posted time limit for parking due to unforeseen circumstances (e.g. appointment delays, caring requirements, etc.) you can ask your treating team to contact Canberra Health Services Parking Operations to request a parking exemption," the spokesperson said.
They said people's vehicles must be legally parked and exemptions needed to be requested before they exceeded the posted time limit.
Breaking road rules by using a disability parking spot without a valid, legitimate Disability Parking Permit was not allowed.
"If a driver uses a disability spot for an emergency and receives a parking infringement, they have an option to dispute/seek withdrawal on the grounds of exceptional circumstances as per the Road Transport (General) Withdrawal of Infringement Notices Guidelines 2019 (No 1)," the spokesperson said.
To support people travelling inside the Woden hospital campus, Canberra Health Services provided a free courtesy shuttle bus service inside the Woden hospital between 8am - 5pm on weekdays, excluding public holidays.
"The courtesy bus conducts 15-minute loops through the hospital campus, servicing several stops including the multi-storey carpark, Yamba Drive, and the main reception entry. These stops are signposted and you can also hail the courtesy bus at any time," the spokesperson said.
