Hospital Parking In Liverpool and Merseyside

There are very few good reasons to be at a hospital and even fewer good reasons to be paying for the privilege of leaving the car outside whilst you’re there.

Hospital parking on Merseyside has been through a busy few years.

The trusts have merged, redeveloped and re-tariffed, fixed rates have been swapped for sliding scales and several long-standing free-parking schemes have either been quietly withdrawn or, in the case of the new cancer centre in Liverpool, very loudly introduced.

Add in the fact that most of the big hospitals are wedged into residential streets with controlled parking zones and a visit can end up costing more in fees and stress than anyone would like.

@dr__mim £17.51 for parking?! Free parking for NHS workers please #nhs #doctor #juniordoctor #nurse #healthcare #healthcareworker #nhsworker #freeparking #parking ♬ original sound – dr mim

What follows is a tour of the major hospitals across Merseyside, with the official parking charges and the concessions that exist for people who would rather not pay them.

Where possible, the rates are taken directly from the trust’s own website. Prices and concession schemes change, sometimes at short notice, so anyone planning a visit should treat this piece as a starting point and then double-check on the day. All figures here were correct as of June 2026.

University Hospitals of Liverpool Group

The University Hospitals of Liverpool Group was created when Liverpool University Hospitals and Liverpool Women’s merged in late 2024. From the 1st of July 2025, the group standardised its parking tariff across all four sites, which are Royal Liverpool, Aintree, Broadgreen and Liverpool Women’s.

That is the tariff still in place at the time of writing, with concessions for cancer patients, neonatal parents, patients with long-term conditions and patients delayed in clinic, which carry over unchanged from the predecessor trusts.

Royal Liverpool University Hospital

• Location: Mount Vernon Street, Liverpool, L7 8YE
• Charges: Less than 30 minutes free. Up to 1 hour £4.50. Up to 2 hours £5. Up to 4 hours £6. Up to 6 hours £7. More than 6 hours £8.50. Seven-day pass £22.50.
• Free / concessions: Blue Badge holders park free at the Mount Vernon Street entrance. Free or discounted parking is also offered to cancer patients, patients with long-term conditions, parents of babies on the Neonatal Unit, and patients who are significantly delayed in clinic. Concessions are handled through the ward or clinic on the day.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: Q-Park Prescot Street and Paddington Village multi-storey on Elm Grove are both within a ten-minute walk and sometimes work out cheaper for longer stays, particularly if pre-booked online. The hospital is also a short walk from Liverpool Lime Street, which is the cheapest option of all if you can get the train in.

There is also a separate short-stay car park used as a drop-off, where the rate is 30 minutes free, 30 minutes to 2 hours £4.50, and 2 to 24 hours a flat £10.

Notes: Surrounding streets fall inside Liverpool City Council’s controlled parking zones, so on-street parking is metered or permit-only Monday to Saturday. Free on-street parking is generally only realistic before 8am or after 6pm.

Aintree University Hospital

• Location: Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool, L9 7AL
• Charges: Same UHL Group tariff as above: less than 30 minutes free, then £4.50 / £5 / £6 / £7 / £8.50 sliding up to over 6 hours, with a £22.50 seven-day pass.
• Free / concessions: Blue Badge holders park free. Free parking is also extended to outpatients who attend at least three times within a month for a course of treatment lasting at least three months, parents with babies on Neonatal, and cancer patients. The trust handles concessions on a case-by-case basis through the clinic.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: Aintree shares its site with the Walton Centre, so the parking is run jointly and there is no advantage to driving to one rather than the other. Fazakerley train station is roughly a ten-minute walk and has regular services into Liverpool city centre. Several bus routes stop on Longmoor Lane and Lower Lane.

Notes: The site is large and the walk from the car park to some clinics is not short, so allow time, particularly for elderly or mobility-limited patients.

Broadgreen Hospital

• Location: Thomas Drive, Broadgreen, Liverpool, L14 3LB
• Charges: Same UHL Group tariff as the other sites. Some longer-stay charges came down at Broadgreen when the standardised tariff was introduced, which the trust flagged as a positive change for relatives of long-stay patients.
• Free / concessions: Same concessions as the other UHL Group sites, so blue badge free, plus cancer / long-term condition / neonatal / delayed-in-clinic categories.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: Broadgreen is next door to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, which has a much larger multi-storey car park, so for some clinics it can be easier to park at LHCH and walk over.

Broadgreen railway station is roughly a ten-minute walk and connects to Lime Street and Manchester.

Liverpool Women’s University Hospital

• Location: Crown Street, Liverpool, L8 7SS
• Charges: Same UHL Group tariff. When the new tariff came in, longer stays at Liverpool Women’s actually became cheaper than they had been previously, which is useful for partners staying through long labours.
• Free / concessions: Blue Badge holders park free. The hospital has a standing position that parking can be reimbursed for medical reasons and on a case-by-case basis, particularly where a patient has driven to an appointment or a medical escort is required. Parents on the Neonatal Unit are covered by the standard UHL Group concession.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: On-street metered parking around Crown Street and Myrtle Street is usually charged by the hour and is often less expensive than the hospital site for short stays. The Cathedral Q-Park is around a 12-minute walk away. The 86 and 86A buses from Liverpool ONE stop close to the hospital.

Other Liverpool Hospitals

Outside the UHL Group, there are three other large hospitals on the Liverpool side of the river, which are Alder Hey, the Walton Centre and Liverpool Heart and Chest. They each set their own tariff, but all three have ended up at fairly similar prices, with the Walton Centre and LHCH effectively matching the UHL Group rates.

There is also the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre on Pembroke Place, which has by far the most generous patient parking arrangement of any hospital in the region.

The Lung Cancer team at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre have won a national HSJ award in partnership with Roche for their work demonstrating the benefits of giving patients an immunotherapy treatment subcutaneously (injected under the skin) instead of intravenously (into a vein).

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— The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust (@clatterbridgecc.nhs.uk) 13:24 · Mar 24, 2026

One thing worth noting for Blue Badge holders is that the Walton Centre, as an example, is run by Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, so you need to speak to someone at the hospital reception to let them know that you’ve got a Blue Badge so that they can add your licence plate to a list of exemptions.

It is worth double-checking this with other hospitals too.

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

• Location: East Prescot Road, West Derby, Liverpool, L12 2AP (multi-storey sat-nav: L14 5AB)
• Charges: Less than 30 minutes free. 30 minutes to 2 hours £3.50. 2 to 6 hours £5. 6 to 8 hours £6. 8 to 24 hours £8. Emergency Department car park (separate, off Eaton Road) is pay-and-display at £4 per visit and moved location in the December of 2025.
• Free / concessions: Blue Badge holders park free of charge. Free parking is also offered to frequent outpatients who attend at least three times within a month for an overall period of at least three months, so visitors should register their vehicle details at the concierge desk.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: The multi-storey has 1,184 spaces (52 Blue Badge, 14 EV chargers), so on most days it is the easiest option. There is a 20-minute drop-off bay on East Prescot Road if someone else can do the driving. Broad Green station is about 1.5 miles away. Several buses stop on East Prescot Road and Eaton Road.

Notes: Payment is by ANPR, with visitors entering their registration at a pay station in the atrium. There is a 2.2 metre height restriction in the multi-storey, so anyone in a high-roofed wheelchair-accessible vehicle should head for the Eaton Road WAV bays instead.

The Walton Centre

• Location: Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool, L9 7LJ (same site as Aintree)
• Charges: Less than 30 minutes free. Up to 1 hour £4.50. Up to 2 hours £5. Up to 4 hours £6. Up to 6 hours £7. More than 6 hours £8.50. Seven-day pass £22.50. Card payment only at the machines.
• Free / concessions: Blue Badge holders park free, but the badge has to be visually verified by staff with the vehicle registration number on the day as there is no automatic exemption at the barrier. A separate concession scheme operates for patients undergoing long-term treatment or frequent attenders, arranged through their consultant team.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: Same as Aintree, which is Fazakerley station at about a ten-minute walk and bus services are good. The Walton Centre Charity also runs the Home from Home accommodation block for relatives of long-stay patients, which can reduce the need for repeat parking visits. On top of that, there is also a car park just along the road where you can park for less, but it’s run privately and often gets full quickly.

Notes: The Walton Centre has its own Main Building and the newer Sid Watkins Building, so look at your appointment letter to specify which one you’re looking for and make sure to head to the right one.

Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital

 

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• Location: Thomas Drive, Liverpool, L14 3PE
• Charges: Less than 30 minutes free. Up to 1 hour £4.50. Up to 2 hours £5. Up to 4 hours £6. Up to 6 hours £7. More than 6 hours £8.50. The published tariff does not list a seven-day pass.
• Free / concessions: Blue Badge holders park free in marked bays. ANPR is in place, but Blue Badges must still be visible on the dashboard.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: Broadgreen Hospital is next door and the two share informal pedestrian access. For some appointments, it can be marginally easier to park at one and walk to the other, though both run the same tariff. A free courtesy bus loops around the LHCH site every 15 minutes, Monday to Friday, between 8am and 12:30pm, then 1pm to 5:15pm, calling at the main entrance, the Holly Suite day ward and the Outpatients Department. Broadgreen station is about a ten-minute walk.

Notes: The two-tier main car park has more than 1,000 spaces, so it rarely fills.

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Liverpool

• Location: 65 Pembroke Place, Liverpool, L7 8YA
• Charges: There is no patient car park directly on site. Patients are directed to Paddington Village multi-storey car park on Smithdown Lane.
• Free / concessions: This is the standout offer of any hospital on Merseyside: patients can park on any floor of Paddington Village, with Levels 9-12 reserved for Clatterbridge if lower floors fill up. Also, the three specific validation desks (Main Reception Level M2, Outpatients Reception Level M1, Chemotherapy Reception Level 6) are available to use. There are no Blue Badge bays directly outside the hospital, so Blue Badge holders are also directed to Paddington Village.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: A free shuttle bus runs every 15 minutes between Paddington Village and the hospital entrance, Monday to Friday. Pembroke Place itself has only a small pick-up/drop-off area and you cannot wait there. The hospital is also on the route of several city-centre buses and within walking distance of Lime Street.

Notes: The free parking deal only applies to Clatterbridge patients, so if you are visiting someone in the wards rather than attending a clinic, ask reception whether the validation applies to your visit before parking.

The Wirral

The Wirral’s two main hospitals are run by Wirral University Teaching Hospital and sit on either side of the peninsula.

In the September of 2023, the trust replaced its old fixed rate (£3.20 up to 3.5 hours, £10 over that) with a variable tiered tariff broadly in line with other Cheshire and Merseyside trusts. Call 0151 678 5111 or check the on-site machines for current rates.

Arrowe Park Hospital

• Location: Arrowe Park Road, Upton, Wirral, CH49 5PE
• Charges: Variable tiered tariff on a sliding scale of up to 12 hours, with more free parking for very short stays and lower rates than before for longer stays. Lost tickets are charged at £10.
• Free / concessions: Free parking for Blue Badge holders in car park B, badge displayed. You need to press the buzzer at the exit for security to verify and lift the barrier, whilst frequent outpatient attenders are identified in advance as visiting three or more times in a calendar month, with parents of children staying overnight (free between 7pm and 7am, up to two vehicles), and staff working night shifts also getting discounts.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: The hospital is well served by Merseytravel buses from Birkenhead, Liverpool and across the Wirral. Upton railway station is around a 20-minute walk. Patients on certain state benefits can claim travel costs back through the NHS Hospital Travel Costs Scheme. There is also a road that runs past the hospital where you can park for free, but that obviously fills up quickly.

Notes: Pay-on-foot machines are sited at the main entrance, ground-floor lift lobby, Emergency Department entrance, Fracture Clinic and near the car park B exit. Inconsiderate parking attracts a £70 charge notice, including for Blue Badge holders parked outside marked bays.

Clatterbridge Hospital (Wirral)

• Location: Bebington, Wirral, CH63 4JY
• Charges: Same variable tiered tariff as Arrowe Park.
• Free / concessions: Same concessions as Arrowe Park. Blue Badge holders use car park G and security verify and lift the exit barrier when you’re leaving.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: Bebington station is around a 15-minute walk. The hospital is largely outpatient-focused now that most acute services have moved to Arrowe Park, so visits are often shorter and likely to fall within the cheaper short-stay tiers.

Notes: Not to be confused with the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre on the same campus, which is a separate trust with its own free, validated parking offer at the Wirral campus.

St Helens and Knowsley

Whiston Hospital and St Helens Hospital are both run by Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, having previously been the responsibility of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals.

They operate a shared graduated charging system with a £20 weekly pass available from any pay-on-foot machine. The official trust pages confirm the structure and the weekly pass, with specific per-hour rates available on the on-site signage.

Whiston Hospital

• Location: Warrington Road, Prescot, Knowsley, L35 5DR
• Charges: Graduated charging system. Weekly pass is £20 with unlimited use for seven days, available from any pay-on-foot machine in the multi-storey or public car parks. Pay-on-foot ticket system needs you to take a ticket on arrival, pay at the machine before leaving, then use the ticket at the barrier.
• Free / concessions: Free parking for Blue Badge holders, so display the badge in the vehicle and present both the parking ticket and a copy of the badge at Main Reception for validation. Free parking is also offered to frequent outpatient attenders who have three or more visits in a month, over at least three months and parents or guardians of children under 18 admitted as inpatients, where it’s free between 7:30pm and 8am, which is applicable to two vehicles.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: Whiston station is about a 15-minute walk and connects to Liverpool Lime Street and St Helens. Buses from Liverpool, Prescot and St Helens stop close to the hospital. The hospital sits in a residential area, so on-street parking is generally either restricted or in genuinely tight short streets where it is unwise to park blocking strangers’ driveways.

Notes: The visitor car parks are car parks 1 and 2, with car parks 3 and 4 being staff-only. There is a multi-storey on-site.

St Helens Hospital

• Location: Marshalls Cross Road, St Helens, WA9 3DA
• Charges: Same graduated charging system as Whiston, with the same £20 weekly pass. Specific per-hour rates can be confirmed via the on-site signage or by calling the hospital.
• Free/concessions: Same as Whiston: free for Blue Badge holders and validated at Main Reception, with frequent outpatient attenders and parents of children admitted overnight also able to park for free.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: Lea Green railway station is roughly a 15-minute walk and is on the Liverpool-Manchester Victoria line. Several bus routes stop on Marshalls Cross Road. As with Whiston, surrounding streets are residential and not a sensible free park-and-walk option.

Sefton

Sefton’s main hospital is Southport District General Hospital, which is run by the same Mersey and West Lancashire Trust that operates Whiston and St Helens, although for historical reasons it has a different tariff.

The hospital uses a ticketless ANPR system, so number plates are read on entry, drivers enter their registration into the pay machine before leaving and the barrier opens automatically.

Southport District General Hospital

• Location: Town Lane, Kew, Southport, PR8 6PN
• Charges: 0 to 20 minutes free. 20 minutes to 1 hour £3. 1 to 2 hours £3.50. 2 to 3 hours £4. 3 to 4 hours £4.50. 4 to 6 hours £5.50. More than 6 hours £6.50. Weekly pass £20.
• Free / concessions: Blue Badge holders park free, but the badge must be validated once by the trust and then again when it’s renewed. This is done at the car park attendant station, by calling 01695 656140, by sending an email to [email protected], or in person at the General Office. Free parking also applies to relatives of patients at end of life, cancer patients, parents of neonatal babies and parents of children staying overnight, all arranged through the relevant ward or department.
• Cheaper or free alternatives: The pay machines take cash and card, but payment is also possible using the Glide smartphone app (pre-pay) or contactless at the exit barrier. Birkdale is the nearest railway station, around a 30-minute walk away, with Southport’s own town-centre station being about ten minutes by car or twenty by bus. The 15A, 44, 46B, 315 and 715 buses all stop on Town Lane near the hospital.

Notes: Parking is patrolled by UK Parking Control Ltd, which issues fixed-penalty notices for parking in Blue Badge bays without entitlement, on pavements, on double yellows or for blocking access. The trust does not handle penalty appeals, which go through UKPC and ultimately Popla.

Ways to Spend Less

Some money-saving strategies work across the entire region rather than being tied to one trust. They are worth knowing about even if your hospital isn’t on this list. Concessions for cancer patients, neonatal parents, frequent outpatients and patients with long-term conditions exist at virtually every trust on Merseyside. The exact thresholds vary, but three appointments in a month is a common rule and the concession nearly always needs to be arranged through the clinic, ward or main reception, not the car park itself. If you fall into one of these groups and you have been paying full price, it is worth a phone call to your team.

The NHS Hospital Travel Costs Scheme can reimburse parking and travel costs for patients on qualifying state benefits, including Income Support, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, Universal Credit in some circumstances and a few others. The receipt and an HC2 or HC5 form are needed and it has to be claimed through the hospital’s cashiers or General Office. Blue Badge holders get free parking at every hospital listed in this piece, but the mechanism differs. Some car parks are automatic via ANPR, like Alder Hey, Aintree, RLUH at Mount Vernon Street, and some need a one-off validation by the trust, such as Southport.

There are some where staff need to verify the badge on the day, which is the case at the Walton Centre and LHCH, whilst some require pressing a buzzer to talk to security, like Arrowe Park. On that front, there are plans for Arrowe Park to change their parking rules, which are worth keeping an eye out for. Bring the badge and your registration number and be ready to do whatever the local system asks.

Drop-offs are usually free for up to 20 to 30 minutes at most main entrances. If someone else can drive you in, they can often wait in the car for a short clinic visit without paying anything. Public transport is genuinely the cheapest option for most of these hospitals, with almost all of them being within easy reach of a Merseyrail station or a regular bus service. The Merseytravel Journey Planner is good for working out the cheapest combination of train and bus and an off-peak day saver covers most parts of the region.

Free on-street parking near hospital sites is harder than it looks. Liverpool, the Wirral and Sefton all operate controlled parking zones around their hospital sites, with residential permits, time limits and meters that bite Monday to Saturday. Streets that look free often turn out not to be. If you do plan to park and walk, check the signage on the actual street rather than relying on an online listing or hearsay, given that restrictions get updated and the £70-plus penalty notices are issued regardless.

If you are a cancer patient, three Clatterbridge sites have particularly favourable parking arrangements that are worth knowing about. Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Liverpool gives validated free parking at Paddington Village. Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Wirral, on the main Clatterbridge campus near Junction 4 of the M53, has free patient parking at the front entrance if you show your appointment letter to the attendant.

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Aintree, the radiotherapy and outpatient satellite on the Aintree site, follows the Aintree concession rules. The trust’s own website lists the current arrangements for each location, but please double-check before you travel.