Local dad Andy Pink was so fed up of the free-for-all at the Cumberland Infirmary he set up a dedicated Facebook page.
In less than 48 hours it had gained more than 1,200 likes.
Andy, who lives with his partner and their six children in Botcherby, is now collecting the views of patients, staff and visitors and plans to present them to hospital bosses at their next board meeting.
He said: “It’s just getting beyond a joke. I am in that area quite a lot for work and have seen friends posting stuff on Facebook about how bad it is. People will literally park anywhere.
“I just worry what’s going to happen one day when an ambulance can’t get through because cars are blocking the way. How long will it be before someone dies?”
Andy said in the last year there had been several incidents where his and his partner’s children had been rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
Each time he feared it might be delayed by vehicles.
He decided it was time to take action and set up the group – called Get The Parking Sorted at the Cumberland Infirmary – last week.
Visit the Facebook page:
It now has more than 1,400 likes, with members posting their own photos of cars causing a hazard in the hospital grounds.
Andy has been collecting comments ahead of the next board meeting of North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the infirmary along with the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.
The issue is already on the agenda for the meeting, which takes place at the end of the month in Carlisle, and he plans to attend.
Parking has long been a problem at the Cumberland Infirmary.
Yet despite having planning permission to add hundreds more spaces, bosses have yet to start work on the new car parks.
The News & Star revealed in January that this was due to funding issues.
It is now more than a year since Healthwatch Cumbria condemned parking facilities at the infirmary following a catalogue of complaints.
It has since been working alongside bosses to find a solution.
As a result, planning permission was granted for more than 130 new spaces at the front of the site, near Reiver House, and 300 spaces at the side, round by the infirmary helipad.
However, despite having this consent since last autumn, funding has yet to be finalised.
Andy said this was not good enough.
“I just thought it was time for someone to try and do something about it. I had no idea it would take off so quickly,” he added.
"It just shows how many people this is affecting. It’s not just people from Carlisle. There are a lot of people who travel from west Cumbria and Dumfries.”
Andy has already emailed the trust and had a reply from bosses.
It acknowledges the problem and confirms that the trust is still working with the owners of the infirmary site to come up with a solution - which bosses hope will be in place by the end of the year.
It adds: “The design consultation process with potential contractors for two new car parks has begun and final plans will be presented to our trust board at the end of this month. While we can’t currently provide a set timescale until final plans have been presented, it is hoped the new car parks will be ready by the end of the year.
“Resolving the parking issue is one the trust takes very seriously and we are committed to making significant improvements in the near future.”
Car parking timeline:
January 2016:
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December 2014:
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June 2008:
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