Car parking charges at two west Wales hospitals will be scrapped next month with new ways of “stopping incessant abuse by staff” introduced.

Patients and staff often struggle to find a space to park at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen and Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli.

At a Community Health Council locality meeting in Pembrokeshire this week the health board’s transport and sustainable travel manager Gareth Syke gave an update on arrangements to “ensure a fairer deal for patients by protecting designated patient and visitor car parks and stop incessant abuse by staff.”

A “balance” needed to be struck between ensuring access for patients while giving sufficient space for staff Mr Skye’s report stated. He added that there were also a “small amount of people that park at the hospital to get a bus into town” either for work or shopping to avoid higher parking charges in Carmarthen.

CHC members at Wednesday’s meeting were shocked at the “audacity” of these people and were also surprised to learn of a small number of Glangwili staff leaving a car in the car park because they had no room at home.

Lindsay Moran added: “I find it shocking that people would park there and go shopping, especially as more services are being pushed to Glangwili.”

Mr Skye said an Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system will be introduced at both hospitals, initially to monitor the situation but eventually penalty notices will be issued.

Members were concerned about a proposal to make patients re-enter their number plates in a machine after a period of time but were reassured by the placement of machines in departments such as A&E or outpatients, removing the need to return to the car park. This idea would be subject to further consultation before implementation and will involve bringing in a specialist car parking management contractor.

Pembrokeshire CHC deputy chief officer Helen Williams said: “We do not expect people to leave appointments and go to the car park, that’d not acceptable.”

Cllr David Bryan said that“the park and ride in Carmarthen is a marvellous feature” and this "would continue to be promoted".

Other proposals include introducing single parking permits for all staff but restricting parking rights for those living closer to the sites, encouraging public transport or park and ride use.

Plans to increase spaces using “decked parking” were in discussion for both hospitals. If successful the proposals could be implemented at Withybush and Bronglais Hospitals.