Safer parking facilities at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a large and diverse population of over 400,000 people, delivering inpatient and outpatient services.

The working relationship between Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and CP Plus has come a long way since 1995, when the company first won the contract to manage car park facilities on the Trust's two Berkshire sites. Sixteen years on, CP Plus is still managing parking for the Trust and has since been made responsible for security, with an eight year security contract, which came into effect in 2005.

Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust wanted to increase security measures around the sites car parks to make patients and staff feel safer when visiting and working at the Trust’s hospitals.

CP Plus was tasked with upgrading the existing parking facilities and processes, therefore freeing up more budget that could be used for security services.

To resolve the problem, CP Plus implemented a Pay on Foot barrier system. CP Plus also introduced a 24 hour security service for the NHS Trust. This provided greater security and safety for visitors and patients as well as staff.

In addition to these security systems, the eight year contract has seen CP Plus improve islands, pathways and junctions as well as the implementation of a state of the art CCTV control room, which is monitored on a 24/7 basis.

Ian Langdon, Operations Director for CP Plus, said: “This is the biggest security contract that we have, with 22 security guards and in excess of 20 barriers controlled car parks. The aim of the contract was to improve safety at the hospital locations and make sure staff, patients, their family and friends felt safe. This is exactly what we have done”

Kay Loudon-Bruce, Head of Security LSMS at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We have a long standing relationship with CP Plus and they have always provided an excellent service. We felt that when we shifted our focus away from car park management to security that CP Plus was the company to work with and they have not failed to deliver. Many of our patients and staff have commented on how much safer they feel having a security staff presence and the improvements to the car parks themselves have helped with the feel and atmosphere when people are coming and going from the site.”