PATIENTS and visitors will soon be able to pay for parking on the way out of St Mary's Hospital, rather than displaying a ticket in advance. 
A new number plate recognition system will be brought in around October/November. The times vehicles enter and leave the site will be logged, and drivers will pay on exit at one of the machines, which will now accept the new £1 coins.
The new technology will be introduced at the main patient and visitor car parks at the front of the hospital and at the north entrance adjacent to the Maternity and Coronary Care units. 
All other patient and visitor car parks will remain as ‘pay and display’.
The trust is also installing a barrier to stop the 'rat race' during rush hour. There has been an issue with drivers cutting through the hospital site to get to Dodnor Lane, so the barrier at the mini roundabout, near the hospital's South Block, will force drivers to turn left into the staff car park area and prevent them from driving through the site.
Staff will have to access the rear car park via Dodnor Lane, as the barrier will only lift for ambulances and trust vehicles.
The NHS Trust has signed a five-year contract with APCOA Parking, and the deal includes upgrades to parking equipment.
Frank Sims, deputy chief executive at Isle of Wight NHS Trust, said: “This new system will enable us to provide a better service for patients and visitors. No longer will patients have to worry about whether their parking ticket is going to run out.
“The system will also benefit staff with a simplified administrative system and no requirement to display a permit in the windscreen of staff cars. The system will also provide the trust with the ability to improve road traffic management on the St Mary’s Hospital site.”