From Saturday 1 April 2023 changes come into affect to the Clean Air Zone hospital exemptions. This will impact those visiting Bristol hospitals in the BRI complex by car. This includes:
- Bristol Royal Infirmary
- Bristol Heart Institute
- Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
- Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre
- St Michael’s Hospital
- Bristol Dental Hospital
- Bristol Eye Hospital
- Central Health Clinic
- Bristol Eye Hospital
- Central Health Clinic
If your car is deemed older and more polluting you may need to pay a charge to enter the clean air zone. You can use the government’s vehicle checker to find out if you will be charged www.gov.uk/clean-air-zones.
Current Hospital Exemptions
There are some exemptions for a limited number of hospital patients. These have been updated as of the 1st April so check below to see if you are still covered. The hospital exemptions are:
- Regular outpatients – If you have to come to one of the city centre hospitals for a minimum of three or more appointments a month in a three-month period.
- Visitors of long stay inpatients will continue to be able to request a 7-day exemption if their vehicle does not meet the zone’s emissions standards.
In addition, for a three-month trial period, exemptions are also available for:
- People who are eligible for support under the NHS Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS)
- People attending the emergency departments at either Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children or Bristol Eye Hospital.
- People attending hospital to receive cancer treatment.
- People attending hospital to receive end-of-life care.
All other patients attending Bristol city centre hospitals, whose vehicles do not meet the Clean Air Zone standards, will have to pay the charge.
How to apply for a hospital exemption
The touch-screens in the waiting areas previously used for hospital exemption requests are no longer available. The screens have been replaced with the online exemption request form and phone line: 0117 342 6364 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm). Please see the sections below for further details.
Patients
If you meet one of the above criteria you can complete the patient and visitor exemption request form or call 0117 342 6364 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm) to request a CAZ exemption at least three working days before your appointment.
Patients attending emergency departments
You can apply for a CAZ exemption via this online form or call 0117 342 6364 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm), on the day of your visit or, up to four days after attending an emergency departments in the city centre of Bristol.
End-of-life care
You or your carer can complete the online form or call 0117 342 6364 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm). You get get support with this by speaking to a member of hospital staff. For visitors of end of life patients who need a CAZ exemption, please see the visitor of inpatients information below.
Visitors of inpatients
Visitors of inpatients can request an exemption if they need one by completing the online form. There is a discounted parking rate for visitors which will also be applied. Discounted parking and CAZ exemptions are available for up to two visitor vehicles per patient. This is available for up to seven days at a time for the duration of the inpatient stay.
The CAZ charge runs from midnight to midnight. If the visit extends beyond midnight more than 1 registration will be required. You will need to know the make, model and registration number of the vehicle you are travelling in to apply for an exemption.
