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Musgrove Park Hospital is the main hospital in Taunton, Somerset. With more than 700 beds and 15 operating theatres, it serves the local population of more than 340,000 people in the city and Western Somerset region. The hospital is run by the Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and employs some 4,200 doctors, nurses and administrative staff.

Healthcare car parking has to provide for a wide range of customer needs. Hospital patients and their visitors may be worried or anxious and want the parking part of their journey to be as easy and convenient as possible.

In 2006 the hospital trust turned to Q-Park to help tackle the parking problems and congestion. At the time, there were less than 1,250 parking spaces on the 32-acre site and traffic density hampered the emergency services and visitors alike – people often had to queue to get to the hospital. Q-Park assessed the parking needs and traffic flows to and from the hospital as well as on the site itself. Improvement suggestions were taken onboard and implemented by the municipality so that the hospital site is now freely accessible by all.

The hospital complex now has approximately 1,500 parking spaces located in 14 open-air car parks and one purpose-built multi-story facility, known as Cedars, conveniently located next to the day surgery centre.

Map of Musgrove Park hospital showing various buildings and parking locations.

Q-Park Parking Hosts are on site to help hospital visitors with any parking problems that may arise such as a flat battery. All parking areas are monitored with CCTV.

To make parking easier for visitors of long-stay patients, they can purchase a weekly ticket from the car park lodge. In addition, visitors and carers are often entitled to concessionary parking tariffs. The hospital trust has issued parking permits to some 2,000 hospital staff.

The Cedars multi-storey car park won the Car Park of the Year Award from the British Parking Association in 2007.

The multi-story car park features an architectural lighting installation that combines light and wooden louvres to create an animated facade that softens the utilitarian nature of the car park and creates a positive and uplifting visual spectacle for the hospital and its users.

Light Weave, by Peter Freeman, was commissioned by Q-Park as part of the 'Art for Life' programme at Musgrove Park NHS Hospital Trust. Extra lights installed in the stairwell at the entrance create a colour sequence for people walking up the stairs.

Partnering with Q-Park to provide parking facilities frees up hospital trust staff to concentrate on healthcare matters. The partnership provides demonstrable value for money and commitment to delivering long-term quality services in a healthcare environment.

Note: More than 40 spaces for blue badge holders.