ONE million people use York District Hospital every year. That astonishing figure says a lot about the demands being heaped on our over-worked National Health Service. It also explains why it is so hard to find a parking space at the hospital.

Every one of those million people knows that the parking facilities are hopelessly inadequate. But it has been hard for hospital bosses to find the cash to improve the situation when scarce resources are urgently needed on the medical front line.

In recent years, however, it has become clear that the congested car park is seriously interfering with the smooth running of the hospital. Outpatients find it difficult to meet appointments. Staff and visitors have to fight their way in.

The stress this causes is immeasurable. Most patients find a visit to hospital traumatic enough without the added ordeal of negotiating a traffic jam.

When York District Hospital was opened 25 years ago, health bosses warned that the lack of car parking would be a bugbear. Since then, the number of patients using the hospital has increased dramatically. Visitors today are routinely forced to endure long waits for a space, or park miles away and walk in.

The news that York Health Services NHS Trust is to tackle the problem will be welcomed by many in the city. Local residents and others who regularly find themselves caught up in the congestion on Wigginton Road will be almost as pleased as the users of the hospital itself.

So many extra parking spaces may upset the anti-car lobby. But patients who are frail, injured or sick often cannot walk or cycle, and may not feel up to a bus journey. Moreover, the trust is taking environmental concerns on board by planning better park and ride and cycling facilities for those who can use them.

These proposals should give everyone better access to York's hospital. A cure for this particular headache might finally have been found.

Updated: 10:48 Monday, December 03, 2001