ParkingEye PCN to Keeper - Sunderland Royal Hospital - Overstay/Non-Payment - RESOLVED

BobT36

Background:

• Keeper received PCN (citing POFA 2012) from ParkingEye for non-payment of parking at Sunderland Royal Hospital. (~1hr stay, over the 20m free period). Incident date 15/11. Issued 21/11, received 23/11. Charge £70, "discounted" to £42 if paid within 14 days of 21/11. Have not yet appealed, contacted, paid or anything.
  
  
• "Overstay" was due to hospital failings causing a ~1hr wait for patient (with driver accompanying) for what should have been an "in & out" appointment to collect some equipment.
  
  
• Parking ticket payment machine was completely blank & unusable. So driver had to leave without paying for a ticket. Have picture of the blank machine.

Questions / Confirmations

• I see from the Newbies sticky and other threads, that Complaining to PALS (here) is the main thing to do, to get it cancelled / waived. I've seen @Coupon-mad state that Sunderland NHS aren't too bad with cancelling these. Hopefully this will be the case with mine.
  
  
• Should I e-mail, or telephone, or both? If by e-mail, any idea how long it takes for them to deal with this, usually?
  
  
• I presume I shouldn't bother with appealing via ParkingEye yet, and just go for the above? Since I have 28 days (from the "Delivery", 23/11?) to appeal. I presume if PALS haven't sorted it by then, I follow the ParkingEye appeal & then POPLA appeals process.
  
  
• Hoping that (for PALS) the fact that the wait was the NHS fault should give some weight to the complaint. I presume this should invoke the NHS parking principles guidance of "Aditional charges should only be imposed where reasonable and should be waived when overstaying is beyond the driver’s control".
  
  
• However does the fact that the driver & patient are not the same, invalidate the above? (Unfortunately the patient does not have a license so can't be named as the driver). The driver was accompanying the patient and waited alongside them. 
  
  
• If it comes to it, does the picture of the non-operational ticket machine carry any weight against ParkingEye?  I'm a little far away from the parking site so can't immediately get pictures of signs etc, but can if it comes to it. Sure they could state "should have called this number instead", but how can they guarantee the ability to do so? (enough minutes for a call, data for downloading an app, blabla). There were no instructions on the machine. Presume they're not bothered either way, but how much weight does it give via POPLA?
  
  
• Their "photographic evidence" on the PCN simply shows a reg plate (presumably ANPR), and a date/time LOL, this could be anywhere! Shouldn't they have to actually prove WHERE this was incurred and that it was even in a car park? You can't even see the car besides the reg & headlights!
  
  
• Anything I'm missing? (at this stage).
   

I'll link pics of the PCN, non-operational ticket machine, and a draft PALS complaint in my next post. Please comment if appropriate, and I'll send it off to PALS tomorrow. 

BobT36

For reference:

• PCN Page 1: https://ibb.co/Hd2zLRk
  
  
• PCN Page 2: https://ibb.co/BrLGVyg
  
  
• Photo of non-operational parking ticket machine: https://ibb.co/gPyTBqr
  (Non-date stamped unfortunately, however Date_Taken is available in the file properties). 
  
  
• PALS contact for Sunderland Royal Hospital NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/services/service-directory/sunderland-royal-hospital/N10866772?gsdServiceId=363
  
  
• NHS car parking guidance 2022 for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles
  
  
• Parking (Code of Practice) Bill: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill
  
  

Draft PALS complaint:

SUBJECT:
COMPLAINT due to Parking Charge Notice incurred following an unnecessarily long wait, and non-operational ticket machine, while patient attended a NHS appointment at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

BACKGROUND:

On 15/11/2023, The Patient attended an appointment at Sunderland Royal Hospital. The appointment was to simply  to collect a machine for monitoring sleep disturbances due to a long-term health issue. This should have been a rapid, stress-free visit..

1. On arrival, the main entrance receptionist made an error, stating that the appointment was actually for a "breath test", (despite the reasoning on the appointment letter) and directed the patient to the pulmunary function department (PFD). This confused the patient into thinking a "wait" was involved.

2. Patient reported to the PFD reception, stated they have an appointment, and was instructed to wait to be called.

After an hour passed, the patient noticed staff were leaving and approached reception to query the length of the wait. The nurse spoke to another member of staff and informed the patient that the relevant staff "know you are here", and to continue waiting.

Shortly afterwards, the patient was called in. The nurse apologised for the patient being made to wait so long, and admitted that this was because the staff had in-fact NOT been informed (by PFD reception) that the patient had arrived.

The member of staff also confirmed that the the appointment was indeed only to collect the machine, and not for a breath test or anything else. The appointment was then conducted, and the patient collected the machine and left the hospital.

3. Upon exiting, the patient was unable to pay for parking as the machine was completely blank and unusable. They had no other way to make a payment, and left the car park.

4. Eight days following the appointment, a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) was received by the Registered Keeper of the vehicle used for travel (myself). The PCN was issued by the private parking firm ParkingEye, and demands payment of £70 within 28 days.

COMPLAINT:

1. Had the patient not been misled about the nature of their appointment by the main reception, they would have questioned the wait sooner. Potentially avoiding staying long enough to incur a Parking Charge Notice (PCN).

2. What should have been an "in and out" appointment ended up taking over an hour. Had the PFD reception correctly informed the relevant team the patient had arrived, (as they proclaimed to have done so!), the patient would have likely not had to wait (and park) for so long, and not incurred a PCN.

3. As per the "NHS car parking guidance 2022 for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts" (linked below), this clearly states "Additional charges should only be imposed where reasonable and should be waived when overstaying is beyond the driver’s control (such as when treatment takes longer than planned, or when staff are required to work beyond their scheduled shift).". This clearly advises that the charges should be waived. 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

4. The Payment machines operated by the parking company (appointed by the hospital) were not functional. If the hospital are to allow a parking company to operate on their premises and charge for parking, they should ensure that the appropriate equipment is maintained and operational to allow patients to pay for it. Due to the hospital / parking company's failure at ensuring this, the PCN was incurred.

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Patients being forced to spend long waits, do so due to staff errors, incur stress with managing parking charges and then not even being able to pay due to inadequately maintained equipment, results in an extremely negative experience when visiting this hospital. 

The parking company (ParkingEye) are agents of the Trust, and the mailing of these threatening letters demanding payment to a private company, are therefore actions of the Trust. It is disgusting for vulnerable patients to receive such treatment when visiting a site that should have a focus on health.

I also took a moment to view the law on this and came across some very damning comments made by MPs in a recent debate about what they called “cowboys”, “bloodsuckers”, and termed their actions “unscrupulous behaviour”. You can read the bill and the comments for yourself (linked below). It is extremely dissappointing that the Trust works with such firms, to the detriment of their own patients.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-02-02/debates/CC84AF5E-AC6E-4E14-81B1-066E6A892807/Parking(CodeOfPractice)Bill

PROPOSED RESOLUTION:
I trust this complaint will be handled appropriately. I would consider that the NHS contacting ParkingEye to cancel the PCN (ref xxxx, dated 15/11/2023, issued 21/11/2023) and waiving of the charge of £70, a suitable resolution. 

I also would like the NHS to reconsider their relationship with such unscrupulous parking firms at treatment sites.

Fruitcake

Complaints to PALS should be by email. A 'phone call is not worth the paper upon which it is writ. Complain to your MP as well.

For the latter, I have found this useful.

WriteToThem - Email your Councillor, MP, MSP, MS, MLA or London Assembly Member for free

You are right to refer the hospital to the government mandate regarding NHS parking.

NHS car parking guidance 2022 for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

You could include a photo of the duff payment machine, and mention that there are no instructions about what to do if it isn't working.


Wait for a response from the complaints before appealing, but don't miss the appeal deadline.

It is irrelevant whether or not the driver was the patient. The complaint is that the patient's *chaperone/carer* was unavoidably delayed due to a problem caused by the hospital. The hospital are therefore honour bound to remedy the problem.
* I would use the latter term, even if it is not your main job. On the day, the driver was caring for the patient, and presumably could not leave them until the issue was resolved.

The ANPR scamera images of just the number plate are normal. The metadata embedded in the digital image should contain locate, data and time information that can be extracted if say PE went to court so they could prove where it was taken, so at this stage it's not worth challenging.

Other than that, you seem to have a good idea what to do about this.

BobT36

Thankyou! 
Yep I'll be including the photo (bullet 3) of the dead payment machine. 

And yep. the NHS parking guidelines in point #3 of the Complaint (second post) I'm hoping will carry good weight with PALS, as it explicitly says that parking fees should be waived in the event of delays with the appointment. 

Fortunately I don't think driver and patient being separate should be a problem for PALS. I'll just get the patient to complain (we live at the same address), that the delay (and dodgy machine) resulted in a PCN being sent to the vehicle's keeper (all true), pals will likely just assume (by omission) patient/driver were the same. Will worry about the names being different on the appointment / NTK if it gets to PCN appeal. 

Good point about the metadata. Just thought it was funny it's completely black haha. Absolutely omits everything relevant that might be going on in the image. 


Thanks for confirming! Just wanted to check I'd got the right approach, especially with the order of appeals. I'll get the e-mail complaint sent off to PALS and cross-fingers they deal with it quickly. Didn't think I'd have much success with getting the landowner to sort this one (being a busy hospital), so was happy to find there's an (apparently successful) avenue for this with them. 

I'll update this thread with the outcome, or next steps. 

BobT36

Resolved.  
I sent a variation of the above complaint to the PALS contact by e-mail. Had to provide a bit of extra data such as confirming the address and the ref no etc. 

However today I received a letter from ParkingEye advising me that the PCN has been fully cancelled and there's now nothing to pay. (I'll keep this for 6 years). 

Result! 
Thanks guys, I thought for hospitals they'd be too busy / not bothered / no-one to contact, but it seems this isn't the case. Both PCNs I've had in the past (Tesco and Sunderland Hosp) I got cancelled quickly by the landowner. This does seem to be the best way, where possible. 

Thanks!