"Treatment and staff excellent, car parking system..."

Firstly, thank you for your positive comments about the care provided at North Tyneside - they are very much appreciated. I am really sorry to hear that you dislike the design of the new car parking system. We do understand that car parking itself can be a contentious issue and also appreciate that a number of our patients have found the transition to the new system quite challenging. One of the main reasons for the introduction of ParkingEye, was to remove the need for the replacement of existing payment and barrier machines which we estimate will save around £70,000 - money that will be directed back into patient services. The new system is not designed to catch anyone out- it is not in our interests to make parking difficult for our patients and visitors. Under the new system, we haven't lost any spaces, in fact we have created more and the change has allowed us to create dedicated spaces at the front entrances specifically for patients. The tariff remains the same, it hasn't changed for 3 years nearly and in fact we have reduced it for the period 1 to 2 hours . We have ensured that the same exemptions still apply for long term or critically ill patients and their visitors / family and we have nearly 7000 blue badge holders registered for free parking . I am very grateful for your feedback and have shared your views with our Director of Estates. I know he is actively using all feedback to ensure that where we need to make changes, and can, we do so . I accept that I may not have convinced you of the benefits of the new approach but wanted to share some of our rationale with you. I hope this is helpful. I did actually reply to you last week but unfortunately there have been some problems with the NHS Choices site. They are currently investigating why none of my responses, posted last Friday, have been recorded in their system. These difficulties have prevented me from getting back to you as early as I would have liked and I am very sorry about that. With kind regards, Annie Annie Laverty - Director of patient experience

Dear Alan,

Just to update you on the outcome of this. The Trust has made an important change and reached an agreement which will result in the termination of the management contract with Parking Eye on all Northumbria premises.

I hope this provides you with some assurance of our determination to listen and respond to the needs of our patients and the local people we serve.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention.

With all best wishes,

Annie