A hospital in Hertfordshire has removed signs which stated anyone could use disabled parking bays.
The BBC reported that the signs, which said the bays were for “general usage” if “not occupied by blue badge holder”, were next to some disabled parking bays at the Lister Hospital car park in Stevenage.
They quoted Laura Albone, an occupational therapist who has disabilities, as saying the signs were a “big surprise”.
Laura told the BBC she first saw the signs in the hospital’s multi-storey car park and “they were all occupied by cars not displaying a badge”.
She said: “Things like this happen all the time elsewhere, but to have it blatantly happen at quite a large hospital, I was a bit shocked by it.
“If that bay is occupied already, then someone with a blue badge cannot park in it at all, and for it to say general usage and then blue badge meant that it was really general usage rather than blue badge to start with.”
Kevin Howell, from East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, told the BBC the hospital knew “how important” it was for blue badge holders to be “able to park easily”.
He said the 422-space multi-storey car park had 64 spaces designated for disabled parking and that blue badge holders could park anywhere free of charge.
He said: “These signs were next to some of the designated spaces for blue badge holders, and we appreciate that they are confusing – they have now been removed.
“We are always keen to improve our parking for our patients and visitors with blue badges – please do let us know if we can do better.”
Laura said she was pleased the signs had been removed after she had brought it to the hospital’s attention on social media.
She said: “I think it means they realise they were in the wrong with this. Effectively it means we’ve managed to double the amount of blue badge bays at the hospital, which will make a huge difference.”
