Cardiac rehab patient cancelled Roscommon University Hospital appointment over ‘shocking’ parking
Roscommon University Hospital (RUH) is receiving “constant negative scoring in surveys” about the “impossible” parking. It has also issued letters to patients fined for illegal parking in support of appeals.
There is “nowhere near enough” parking at Roscommon University Hospital, with one patient opting not to come to the hospital for cardiac rehab due to the parking situation, private HSE correspondence has shown.
The hospital, which receives glowing patient satisfaction reports on all other matters, said it is receiving “constant negative scoring in our surveys” about the “impossible” parking. It has also issued letters to patients fined for illegal parking in support of appeals.
Documents seen by the Roscommon Herald show staff at Roscommon University Hospital attempting to solve the carpark problem, and acknowledging the many complaints received over the situation, including two people in their 80s attending cardiac rehabilitation being fined for illegal parking.
In a letter dated April of this year, a person aged 82 wrote to the hospital about “how upset I was when I was in the cardiac rehab unit, there was no parking to be found anywhere”. The patient said they received an €80 fine and had mobility issues.
According to correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act, the HSE said that car parking was a “major” challenge.
“Every patient survey that is undertaken mentions the challenges and difficulties in securing safe parking anywhere on or near the site,” the HSE said in June 2024 in an email. It added that despite the approximately 65 spaces at Dr Hyde Park, “it is still not enough to cope with our increased demand”.
“This is then leading to abandoning of cars along road sides, outside the houses of our neighbours etc.” In further correspondence in November 2024 between the hospital and senior HSE officials, it was stated that the “site is extremely congested with cars” and staff and patients were resorting to parking on grass, kerbs and yellow lines. This was commented on by the Health and Safety Authority on two of its visits on site, according to the document. The HSA was contacted for comment about this.
“Without stating the obvious, there is not enough parking available on our site and even using about 80 spaces too at the Hyde, it is nowhere near enough,” the correspondence said.
It also highlighted that in discussions with the Mayo Roscommon Hospice earlier in 2024, the hospice advised that it had bought additional land at the rear of the PSCU (palliative care support unit) and that it was “open to including any submission that they would make to include parking for RUH, even in a temporary measure”. The hospice was also contacted for comment about this.
As well as meeting with the council over the matter, the hospital had also scoped out the possibility of using a nearby appropriate car park of any private provider with a transport minibus type link, “however there really is nothing very close to use which would make good sense”.
The issue of patients and staff receiving fines also was discussed at length. One of the patients who received a fine was attending the hospital following a knee injury at work.
In February of this year, the hospital was informed by a patient that they were cancelling their cardiac rehabilitation appointment as “it was too difficult to find parking”, and instead wished to attend Portiuncula University Hospital. In internal correspondence hospital staff said this was the first time this had happened and was concerning . Another cardiac rehab patient contacted the hospital in April saying they had received a fine, which they had paid. The patient was “unhappy due to the stress it caused”, the document said, and that the patient arrives up to an hour before the appointment to get parking.
The hospital also received complaints from local residents frustrated about patients parking outside houses.
In a May-June survey of staff, parking was found to be “still the number 1 priority” for endoscopy staff and patients. Comments from this survey said that the parking was “shocking” and “impossible” for staff and patients.
In response to these concerns, dated July 2025, among other actions, the hospital said it would ensure to advise staff of plans for additional spaces being made available at the rear of the hospital in the coming weeks.
