A ‘radical overhaul’ of a hospital’s parking arrangements needs to take place, its users have said.

NHS Frimley has announced plans to make ‘positive improvements’ to the car park at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey.

The hospital, which is set to be rebuilt on a different location due to being made with crumbling concrete, plans to introduce 40 new parking spaces at its existing site.

NHS Frimley says this will increase capacity by 10 per cent,  while LED lighting and improved parking bay markings will also be installed.

The new spaces will be available once the improved lighting is completed in the early summer.

The hospital will also be getting more drop off bays outside the front entrance, as well as two dedicated ambulance bays.

Investment will be made into AI-controlled and ANPR cameras to help improve the flow of traffic into and out of the car park.

New parking arrangements will be managed by an external contractor, with parking controls becoming ‘stricter’, the NHS trust said.

At the moment the hospital car park has a ‘pay on foot’ system, which is free for up to 20 minutes and £4 for 20 minutes to two hours. It costs £8.50 to park there for over £8.50.

Free parking is currently available for disabled people, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight and visitors with relatives who are gravely sick, terminally ill or under palliative care.

But users of the facility have criticised the new parking plans, arguing that the improvements do not go far enough.

Graham Jones said the parking arrangements need ‘a radical overhaul’.

Brian Hicks said: “An extra 40 spaces will do nothing, especially if they are the same statutory minimum width as existing spaces.

“The problem needs a more radical solution, such as off-site park and ride into the hospital from multiple locations, or a bigger multi-storey car park.”

Aretha Winn said she had to queue for 35 minutes to get into the car park, before going ’round and round to find a space’.

She agreed that 40 more spaces ‘will not cure the volume’.

Another user, John Valentine, said he was worried the external contractor would mean parking would get ‘more difficult and more expensive’, with people being fined ‘eye watering amounts’.

NHS Frimley says these changes are being made to ‘enhance the experience for patients and visitors’.

Other car parks near the hospital that are a short walk away are on Cedar Lane, Burrell Road and at Frimley station.

The trust says wherever possible, residents should travel by public transport.