'My mother died alone because the car park was full'

"I missed the death of my mother, who died alone, because the car park was full."

Andrea Wright says she wasn't able to be with her mother when she died several years ago because she was looking for a car parking space at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

She is now one of more than 700 people who have shared their similar experiences in support of a petition to reform the hospital's parking arrangements.

It has already received about 1,500 signatures and was started by independent city and county councillor David Henwood, who said it was "about making sure people can reach the care they need without extra stress".

The petition urges Oxford University Hospitals (OUH), the NHS trust responsible for the John Radcliffe, to review the current parking arrangements and look into a constructing a new multi-storey car park on its site.

Paul Shead, from OUH, said the trust had already "put several measures in place to alleviate pressure on our parking spaces".

Henwood's petition also calls for support from the county and city councils, both of which have been contacted for a comment.

Sharing her story in support of calls for further changes, Wright said: "I'm sure I'm not the only one who had experienced this."

Catriona Allen said her son had "almost missed the birth of his child due to not being able to park", adding that he was not able "to support his wife at the end stages of labour" due to this.

Others described being delayed getting to appointments and even missing them.

Current and former employees at the John Radcliffe also supported the petition, after more than 130 staff parking spaces were lost in recent years.

Jacqueline Redgewell said one of the reasons she had retired early was accessing the hospital by car, explaining that she would have to "sit at the bus stop after a busy day, then sit on the bus in traffic to get back to the park and ride".

"As more and more departments have been developed, more and more parking has disappeared," an anonymous current member of staff added.

Henwood said for some people visiting the John Radcliffe, access by car was "not a luxury" and could be "essential".

"This is not about encouraging unnecessary car journeys. It is about making sure people can reach the care they need without extra stress.

"There have been calls for a decked or multi-storey car park at the John Radcliffe before, including a petition that attracted thousands of signatures. Yet years later, the problem remains."

Shead, who is deputy chief estates and facilities officer at OUH, said the trust was "aware of how stressful finding a car parking space at our hospitals can be".

"We want our parking facilities to be available for people who really need them, and recognise that many of our patients will need to drive," he said.

"We ultimately need to strike a balance in terms of making sure that people who really need the spaces can get them, as well as managing vehicles and traffic in and around our sites responsibly."