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Care Opinion

Approach to asking the reasons of their visits

Posted By A random person

"Approach to asking the reasons of their visits"

About: Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France

(as a service user),

I was heading to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for an appointment. I was stopped by the parking attendants, I rolled down my window expecting to have a pleasant conversation to why I was there.

Their first comment was that I wasn't able to park here, unless here for an appointment. I responded with saying I do have an appointment with such and such at this time. They then proceeded to ask if I had my appointment letter on me. I didn’t have my appointment letter on me and I know I should have, but even if I did I didn’t want this random person to know my name, address, date of birth and the reason of my appointment due to personal reasons. 

They responded saying I wasn’t allowed to park at the hospital without proof of my appointment and had to then park in another car park as I wasn’t allowed in the patient one.

I understand these people have a job to do, however asking to see proof of appointment with all the personal information on the letter is a bit rude and then saying I had to park somewhere else.

Definitely need to find a softer approach to asking the reasons of their visits without forcing people to show their letters which can be embarrassing to the person. 

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Responses

Response from Mariska Vernon-Stroud, Patient Experience Team Lead, Patient Experience Team, NHS Lothian last month
Mariska Vernon-Stroud
Patient Experience Team Lead, Patient Experience Team,
NHS Lothian

I gather feedback from patients to recognise good practise and supporting improving services in NHS Lothian.

Submitted on 05/04/2024 at 10:52
Published on Care Opinion at 10:52

Dear A random person,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share you story and I am sorry about the experience you had trying to park your car at the Royal Infirmary. I know that visiting hospital can be a stressful time and therefore having the added complication of not being able to park your car and being treated rudely by a parking attendant can cause additional unnecessary stress. This is not the level of service we seek to provide.

When parking at the Royal we do on occasion ask to see an appointment letter for people approaching the car park reserved for patients, as we want to ensure spaces are not blocked by people who don’t need to be using this car park. This also enables us to ensure that patients are parking closer to the area they are attending. I have passed on your experience to our Facilities Management team who will review the process as we want to ensure peoples confidentiality is not breached or they are left feeling embarrassed.

Thank you once again, and best wishes

Mariska Vernon-Stroud.

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