25 April 2023

Patients and visitors to Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital will now have access to eight new electric vehicle (EV) charging points.

The installation is part of Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust’s pledge to reduce its impact on the environment as set out in its Green Plan.

The plan reveals how the Trust will reduce carbon emissions of its operations and support the growing number of electric cars on the roads.  It is hoped the new charging points will help reduce the carbon footprint of patient and visitor travel, which currently represents six per cent of the Trust’s overall carbon footprint. 

The public chargers, located in dedicated EV charging bays on the ground floor of the new North Car Park, will be available to use 24 hours a day and seven days a week. An additional ten charging points have also been installed at the Trust’s park & ride facility for staff commuting to work using an electric car.

Mark Orchard, Chief Financial Officer at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, said: “We are delighted to now be able to offer patients, visitors and staff the option of charging their car whilst attending appointments or driving to work. 

"We recognise that more and more people are making the transition to electric cars and there are times when it would be helpful to be able to charge before continuing your journey.” 

To use the electric charging points, drivers will have to download the eCharge app before use from either Apple or Android app store.  Users should only use the spaces when charging their vehicle which will be monitored by the car park operator. 

The chargers use a standard type 2 charging socket delivering a charge of up to 22kwH and users will need to ensure they have brought their type 2 charging cable to make a connection.

A charge will be made for use however this will be on a cost recovery basis only and will be comparable with other public charging infrastructure.