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Husband is a consultant providing outpatient appointments on behalf of NHS at a Health Centre. Previously no parking restrictions. New restrictions were brought in recently.
GPs were given option to rent a parking space. Visiting consultants given no such option (as they are only visiting once per week and not a tenant of the property) and told by management to park in a local supermarket/retail park car park across the road with no signage or restrictions. He was reluctant to do this as he's obviously not a customer and is staying all day, so he continued to park at the Health Centre and was issued 2 PCNs.
He has gone to his NHS managment who will try to have the fines revoked via the landowner of the Health Centre, but we haven't heard anything yet.
He has made a soft appeal to the parking company on grounds that it is his place of work and he was not provided with a valid alternative to carry out his job. They have rejected the appeal saying that the ticket was issued correctly as he overstayed the time.
I presume we should appeal to POPLA while we await the outcome from NHS management and just wanted some advice on what to include.
I have put through AI but wanted to double check as it's obviously not always reliable:
1. Frustration of Contract Performance of his NHS medical contract made compliance with the parking time limit impossible. He was actively delivering essential, unpredictable outpatient care on behalf of the NHS. The overstay was completely outside his control due to patient clinical needs.
2. Lack of Landowner Authority Demand that the parking company prove they have a valid contract with the landowner that explicitly authorises them to issue charges to NHS clinical staff on duty.
3. Inadequate SignageState that the new restrictions were not prominently displayed or brought to the attention of visiting clinicians. Argue that the signs fail the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice for clear, prominent visibility at the entrance and throughout the staff areas.
(I have photos of the signs and they only mention 'patient parking')
4. Not a Genuine Pre-estimate of LossArgue that the £100 charge is punitive and extravagant, especially when applied to a healthcare professional delivering contracted NHS care at their designated place of work. The landowner (the NHS Trust or Health Centre management) contracted the parking company to deter rogue public parking, not to penalise on-duty clinical staff who are on-site strictly to deliver the core healthcare services of the building.
Regarding the argument that he was told to park elsewhere to avoid these fines:
Legitimate Expectation and Absence of Lawful Parking
"The operator may argue that the driver should have utilized an adjacent supermarket car park. However, that commercial car park is strictly designated for retail customers of that specific site. Parking an NHS clinician's vehicle there for the duration of an outpatient clinic while leaving the premises constitutes 'absconding' and a breach of that retailer's parking terms. The driver cannot be expected to breach a contract or commit a civil trespass on third-party commercial property to fulfill his NHS duties. No lawful, valid alternative parking was provided by the employer or the landowner for visiting clinical staff."
Could you please let me know if there is anything I should change or add?
Not sure if relevant but he actually parked in a 30 min drop off bay around the back of the building near staff entrance as he didn't see signs stating that there were different areas. The standard bays are 2 hours anyway, which is much shorter than he would have needed for his day of work.
Many thanks for your help
GPs were given option to rent a parking space. Visiting consultants given no such option (as they are only visiting once per week and not a tenant of the property) and told by management to park in a local supermarket/retail park car park across the road with no signage or restrictions. He was reluctant to do this as he's obviously not a customer and is staying all day, so he continued to park at the Health Centre and was issued 2 PCNs.
He has gone to his NHS managment who will try to have the fines revoked via the landowner of the Health Centre, but we haven't heard anything yet.
He has made a soft appeal to the parking company on grounds that it is his place of work and he was not provided with a valid alternative to carry out his job. They have rejected the appeal saying that the ticket was issued correctly as he overstayed the time.
I presume we should appeal to POPLA while we await the outcome from NHS management and just wanted some advice on what to include.
I have put through AI but wanted to double check as it's obviously not always reliable:
1. Frustration of Contract Performance of his NHS medical contract made compliance with the parking time limit impossible. He was actively delivering essential, unpredictable outpatient care on behalf of the NHS. The overstay was completely outside his control due to patient clinical needs.
2. Lack of Landowner Authority Demand that the parking company prove they have a valid contract with the landowner that explicitly authorises them to issue charges to NHS clinical staff on duty.
3. Inadequate SignageState that the new restrictions were not prominently displayed or brought to the attention of visiting clinicians. Argue that the signs fail the British Parking Association (BPA) Code of Practice for clear, prominent visibility at the entrance and throughout the staff areas.
(I have photos of the signs and they only mention 'patient parking')
4. Not a Genuine Pre-estimate of LossArgue that the £100 charge is punitive and extravagant, especially when applied to a healthcare professional delivering contracted NHS care at their designated place of work. The landowner (the NHS Trust or Health Centre management) contracted the parking company to deter rogue public parking, not to penalise on-duty clinical staff who are on-site strictly to deliver the core healthcare services of the building.
Regarding the argument that he was told to park elsewhere to avoid these fines:
Legitimate Expectation and Absence of Lawful Parking
"The operator may argue that the driver should have utilized an adjacent supermarket car park. However, that commercial car park is strictly designated for retail customers of that specific site. Parking an NHS clinician's vehicle there for the duration of an outpatient clinic while leaving the premises constitutes 'absconding' and a breach of that retailer's parking terms. The driver cannot be expected to breach a contract or commit a civil trespass on third-party commercial property to fulfill his NHS duties. No lawful, valid alternative parking was provided by the employer or the landowner for visiting clinical staff."
Could you please let me know if there is anything I should change or add?
Not sure if relevant but he actually parked in a 30 min drop off bay around the back of the building near staff entrance as he didn't see signs stating that there were different areas. The standard bays are 2 hours anyway, which is much shorter than he would have needed for his day of work.
Many thanks for your help