CARDIFF and Vale University Health Board has announced changes to parking and travel to improve access to its hospital sites. 

During the Covid pandemic, the health board lifted all parking restrictions temporarily, but increasing on site activity has led to higher demand for car parking spaces. This has resulted in difficult and unsafe parking conditions and increased congestion on site.  

From December 1, patients and visitors at the following sites will need to park in designated patient car parks and comply with local on-site parking regulations:

  • Barry Hospital (Barry)
  • University Hospital Llandough (Penarth)
  • University Hospital of Wales (Cardiff)
  • St David's Hospital (Cardiff)

All staff who wish to park will need to ensure they have a permit to give them access to specific designated staff parking areas.  

Parking remains free for all users and will continue to be managed by contractor, ParkingEye.

Those in breach of parking restrictions may be subject to a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) of £70 which can be reduced to £40 if paid within 14 days. There is an appeal process in place with ParkingEye for those who feel a PCN has been inappropriately issued.  

To ease the demand on parking spaces and improve access, the health board has reinstated its free Park and Ride service at both University Hospital of Wales and University Hospital Llandough. The service is operated by Cardiff Bus and is free for patients, visitors and staff and is designed to provide a stress-free, sustainable transport option. 

The University Hospital of Wales service (H59) runs five days a week (Monday to Friday) from Pentwyn, just off the A48M (CF23 8HH). Journey time is six minutes and buses run every 20 minutes. The first bus leaves Pentwyn at 6.30am and the last bus leaves University Hospital of Wales at 9pm. 

The University Hospital Llandough Park and Ride Service (H95) will run from Willcox House in Cardiff Bay (CF11 0BA). Buses will run every 20-30 minutes depending on time of the day and the journey time will be an average of 11 minutes. The first bus leaves Willcox House at 6.30am and the last bus leaves Llandough at 7pm. 

Through its ten year Shaping our Future Sustainable Healthcare strategy and in line with the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is committed to reducing its carbon footprint to become a net-zero public sector organisation by 2030. As part of this commitment, the organisation is encouraging those who can, to consider alternative sustainable and active travel including cycling, walking and the use of public transport. 

Professor Stuart Walker, interim Chief Executive of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said: "We are aware that demand for car parking is considerably higher than the number of spaces we can provide and this has a negative impact on the overall patient and staff experience. 

"In line with our commitments to sustainable travel we do not have plans to build more car parking spaces. Instead we are investing in greener alternatives including the Park and Ride which is free for all our patients, visitors and staff to use.

"Park and Ride is one of the ways we are reducing our overall carbon footprint while improving air quality, easing congestion and ultimately providing an easy, stress-free journey to our hospitals.  

"All our sites are accessible by public transport and many staff are now cycling or walking to work where they can. We also have Next bike points at UHL and UHW which are a low-cost alternative to owning a bike. 

"As part of our long term strategy we are treating people as close to home as possible meaning they will not always need to visit our sites and instead can receive treatment in their local community.

"Furthermore, we have saved a number of staff miles through flexible working which has reduced the number of vehicles coming to our site each day.”