Site work to enable free hospital car parking in 2026

Work is commencing at hospital sites across Northern Ireland in preparation for the removal of car parking charges in May 2026.

Health and Social Care Trusts have been preparing to introduce the necessary infrastructure for a new traffic management system since the Hospital Parking Charges Act was passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2022.

The site work beginning this week will involve some minor infrastructure work at car parks at Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast, Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry and Craigavon Area Hospitals. Further hospital sites will see installation work commencing in the coming weeks.

Until the new system goes live in May 2026, charged parking arrangements will remain in place and car park users should continue to pay for their parking in the normal way.

Site location surveys across the Trusts have been undertaken by specialist engineers to prepare for the installation of ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras and associated engineering works. The purpose was to assess the exact number, type and location of the cameras and to understand the environmental conditions of the locations.

By May 2026, more than 200 cameras will have been installed at 16 sites. Over the next few months, engineering teams will be erecting camera poles and installing other infrastructure at Trust sites.

There will be more information on how drivers will use ANPR-managed hospital car parks closer to the implementation of free car parking.

Notes to editors:

1. Automatic Number Plate Technology (ANPR) will be introduced at HSC Trust healthcare locations as a result of the Hospital Parking Charges Act (Northern Ireland). ANPR is a technology used to ensure that all motorists who enter sites are adhering to the Terms and Conditions of parking on the sites which will be displayed on signage.

2. ANPR technology uses cameras & software to capture vehicle registration plates at the entry and exit points of a car park showing when a vehicle arrives and when it leaves. It is also going to be positioned in specific locations to identify vehicles parked inappropriately.

3. The Hospital Car Parking Act prohibits Health Care Trusts charging someone who is attending the hospital in a relevant capacity as follows-

- work or employment at the hospital, or
- providing services at the hospital,
- as a patient of the hospital, or
- as a visitor to the hospital.

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