Rugby St Cross Hospital - Car Parking Partnership (CPP) and ParkingEye

dangdoggy3

What should I do next? Is it worth complaining to ISS (whoever they are, presumably not International Space Station!)

GrannyKate

Ah - they have one of those contracts with the devil which expires in 2042.

In an FOIA answer in Sept 2023 they stated:

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW) does not
hold a car park management contract - UHCW operates under a Private
Finance Initiative (PFI) contract and all hard and soft services are
managed by our PFI Service Providers – in the case of car parking this is
ISS Facilities Services.  The contract management company is:

The Coventry and Rugby Hospital Company Plc

C/o UHCW NHS Trust 

FM Building

Clifford Bridge Road

Coventry

CV2 2DX

The PFI contract commenced in 2002 and ends in 2042.

You could try complaining to them but you could also ask UHCW what arrangements they have in place to ensure they can comply with:

a) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

b) Do they pay ISS or Coventry and Rugby Hospital Company PLC a fee to enable UHCW to comply with mandatory aspects of the above guidance (eg providing free parking for certain categories of patients) or alternatively how do they ensure that this is happening. If this is managed through an information sharing agreement has this been subject to a DPIA (Data Protection Impact Assessment) if so can you supply a copy.

c) UHCW is allowing persons attending the hospital to be contacted by a third party with no clinical duty of care or confidence. This may result in a third party (the registered keeper of the vehicle) becoming aware (without the consent of the patient) that a person has attended the hospital. Has this been subject to a DPIA (Data Protection Impact Assessment) if so can you supply a copy. Number plates are considered personal data and when connected to identification of keeper through a KADOE contract with DVLA the external party are able to process special category data.

They will no doubt treat these questions under the Freedom of Information Act and you should say that in your response.

GrannyKate

I would also add that earlier FOIA responses which are publicly available have stated that the Trust retains 20% of the revenue from the St Cross Rugby parking. Is this still the case? This would make the assertion that UHCW have no involvement with parking something of a mute point.

GrannyKate

Fascinating stuff on line about this place;

https://www.uhcw.nhs.uk/contact-us/hospital-of-st-cross/ I was particularly struck by the fact that they charge 25p admin fee for paying via the app

https://www.uhcw.nhs.uk/download/clientfiles/files/Concessions%20Leaflet.pdf - hospital definitely sharing confidential info here with 'security' team

https://www.uhcw.nhs.uk/download/clientfiles/files/Frequent%20Outpatient%20Attenders-%20Final%20Information%20on%20Process_V2.pdf

Frequent attenders and cancer patients have to pay up front and can only claim the money back after 9 visits.

MothballsWallet

Would an MP complaint be a possibility as UHCW Walsgrave falls in the Coventry East constituency, which is where I live, but the actual Rugby St Cross Hospital falls in the Rugby East constituency?

GrannyKate

I think its worth sending the foia request I suggested above. I rather suspect that the hospital is refunding the cancer patients etc whilst the parking company retains the fees already paid. This may not be true but it would be interesting to see how they are managing their responsibilities under NHS Parking Guidance. I would certainly refer your concerns to your MP.

dangdoggy3

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82084651#Comment_82084651

Their response to the above:

Thank you for your email.

We appreciate the time you have taken to set out your concerns and recognise how frustrating this situation has been for you.

Having carefully considered the issues you have raised, our position remains that this matter does not fall within the Trust's formal complaints process and therefore will not be registered as a formal complaint under the NHS Complaints Procedure. As previously advised, concerns relating to parking charge notices issued by the parking operator must be pursued through the avenues already provided to you, including directly with the parking service provider.

Whilst we acknowledge your view that the Trust has an interest in the conduct of organisations operating on its sites, the specific dispute regarding the parking charge notices and any appeal against it sits with the parking operator and their established processes. For this reason, the matter will not be forwarded to the Trust's Complaints Team for investigation, and no formal complaint file will be opened.

We note the points you have raised regarding NHS parking guidance, the circumstances surrounding the issue of the charge notice, and your concerns regarding private parking practices. We also acknowledge your intention to pursue the matter directly with ISS and through any other avenues available to you.

As we have provided details of the appropriate route for raising and pursuing these concerns, and as this matter falls outside the Trust's complaints process, we are unable to take any further action in relation to this correspondence.

Kind regards

Mrs xx xx
PALS Coordinator - Patient Experience
Patient Advice and Liaison Service
Quality Department
University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust
Clifford Bridge Road
Coventry
CV2 2DX

dangdoggy3

I've sent a final reply to PALS before moving on to FOI:

Thank you for your reply. I am writing once more, before I escalate this matter externally, to ask the Trust to reconsider its refusal to register my complaint. I want to be clear that I am not asking PALS to adjudicate the parking charge itself. I am making a complaint about the Trust's own conduct and governance, which plainly does fall within the NHS complaints process, and I would ask that it be registered and investigated as such.

The Trust's position rests on the assertion that the parking arrangements are independent of it and that it has no involvement. I do not accept that this is accurate, for the following reasons.

First, publicly available Freedom of Information responses have stated that the Trust retains 20% of the parking revenue from the Hospital of St Cross, Rugby. If that remains the case, the Trust has a direct financial interest in the very charges it says are nothing to do with it, and the claim of no involvement cannot stand. I would ask the Trust to confirm whether it still receives a share of this revenue.

Second, the car park operates under the Trust's PFI contract (commenced 2002, ending 2042), with services delivered by ISS Facilities Services and managed through The Coventry and Rugby Hospital Company Plc. The NHS car parking guidance for NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts is explicit that responsibility for ensuring the guidance is met is not removed by contracting parking out. The Trust remains responsible for ensuring that operators acting on its sites, on its behalf, do so reasonably and in line with that guidance. My complaint is precisely that the Trust has failed to ensure this, and that is a matter about the Trust, not merely about the operator.

Third, my complaint raises data protection concerns that are the Trust's responsibility and no one else's. The arrangement allows a third party with no clinical duty of care or confidentiality to identify, via the vehicle number plate and a DVLA KADOE contract, that an individual attended the hospital, and to contact the registered keeper about that attendance without the patient's consent. I would ask what Data Protection Impact Assessment the Trust has carried out in relation to this, and I would ask for a copy.

These are questions about the Trust's own governance, financial interest, compliance with NHS parking guidance, and data protection obligations. They are not questions the parking operator can answer, and they are not resolved by directing me to ISS or POPLA. They therefore fall squarely within the Trust's formal complaints process.

I am making a final request that this be registered as a formal complaint under the NHS Complaints Procedure and forwarded to the Trust's Complaints Team for investigation. If the Trust again declines to register it, I would be grateful if you would confirm that refusal in writing, together with details of the Trust's process for requesting a review, so that I may escalate to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. I also intend to refer the matter to my Member of Parliament.

I look forward to your confirmation that a formal complaint has been opened.

1505grandad

Just thinking out loud - no other entity receives a slice of the parking company charge notices I suppose (other than the usual DRA'a etc)

GrannyKate

It seems as though all the parking revenue goes to the car park management company and/or ISS except that it has previously been said that 20% from Rugby goes to the Trust - no idea if that is still true of course. I think it has to be an issue for the Trust as to whether signage is adequate both outside and within the hospital. I recognise that PFI is a big expensive mess that has impacted on hospitals in ways that were not fully foreseen when the government had the 'PFI good idea'. It is part of PALS role to assist with making formal complaints if they are unable to resolve things informally - it is not their place to block access to the formal process.