Tears at Christchurch Hospital park and ride
Friday, 15 September 2023
A young breast cancer patient was brought to tears in the Christchurch Hospital shuttle car park after being refused a ride on the service, even though there was a spare seat next to the driver.
Chelsea Jenkins, 34, was left panicked and would have missed her oncology appointment on Thursday morning if it wasn’t for a stranger who delayed their own hospital visit to drive her in from the busy shuttle stop on Deans Ave.
“We shouldn’t have to decide who’s more sick, and who gets to be on time at the hospital,” Jenkins said.
Because Jenkins had a foot infection and could not walk long distances, she always left her Sockburn home more than an hour before an appointment to allow time to find a free car park near the hospital.
She had been receiving chemotherapy since being diagnosed last October, sometimes having appointments up to four times a week, which was why she avoided paying for parking usually.
After searching for 50 minutes and not finding a spot, she “circled” the Deans Ave car park that operates a shuttle to the hospital every 15 minutes, and then joined a long line of others waiting for a ride.
To add salt to the wound and already running late, the shuttle driver wouldn’t let her sit in the front seat – the only available spot left – leaving her stranded with just 10 minutes to make her appointment.
A stranger named Emma, who didn’t want she last name used, was also waiting for the shuttle and noticed Jenkins’ struggle.
“Emma said ‘I will drive down to the hospital and miss my own appointment for my daughter’. She was a guardian angel,” Jenkins said.
The Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury website states the front passenger seat “must remain empty, but all other seats may be used”.
Another shuttle rider told The Press the service was so busy they had to wait for three shuttles before getting a seat on Thursday.
Although the parking woes were made worse by a primary schools sports tournament at Hagley Park on Thursday, Jenkins said the situation was “nothing new”.
Oncologist Michelle Vaughan said “every single patient says the same thing” about parking. She’d had patients lose half their appointment time because they couldn’t find a spot.
During the week the Deans Ave car park cost $5 for the first four hours and $1.50 per hour thereafter - “another bill” for regular patients, Jenkins said.
The service did not have enough seats or enough car parks and was affecting people’s health by risking appointment times, she said.
The service made about 24,500 transfers each month, Canterbury commercial services general manager Rachel Cadle said.
“In our appointment letters, we ask all of our patients to plan their trip to the hospital and allow extra time to get to their appointments as the shuttle can be busy.”
The Cancer Society has a service that picks patients up from their homes, takes them to appointments and then back, carrying out about 90 rides a week.
Jenkins said she was well enough to drive, so opted to leave that service available for those who could not “and really need that assistance”.
Nicole Coom, chief executive for the Cancer Society Canterbury-West Coast and Otago/Southland, said the organisation was in discussions to secure land for a park and ride service between its new cancer accommodation centre in Papanui and St George’s and Christchurch hospitals.
A new public car park at the corner of St Asaph St and Hagley Ave being was expected to be finished before the end of the year, a Ngāi Tahu Property spokesperson said.
“This car park will offer approximately 450 parking spaces within easy walking distance of the Christchurch Hospital [and] will have four fast-charging stations for electric vehicles,” they said.