Parking at the Royal Cornwall Hospital

The main visitor car parks are within the hospital grounds; just follow the signs, but bear in mind it’s not always easy to find a space quickly.

The main car parks are ‘pay on foot’. You take a ticket at the barrier when you come in, keep it on you and put it in the payment machine on the way out, before you get back to your car. The machine tells you how much to pay. When you’ve paid, take back the ticket and use it to make the barrier rise as you leave.

Car parking charges for the Royal Cornwall Hospital:

Up to 2 hours: £2.80
2 – 4 hours: £5.60
4 – 6 hours: £8.40
6 – 24 hours: £14.00

Concessionary tickets for long-term patients and visitors:

5-day tickets: £18.38
7-day tickets: £26.25
Monthly tickets: £42.07

(If you need to buy a a concessionary long-term ticket, you’ll need to ask the ward or department you are visiting for a form.)

There are also a few ‘pay and display’ spaces near to the entrance to the Tower Block building. If you use one of these don’t forget to make a note of what time your ticket expires.

We also have free pick-up and drop-off spaces close to the entrances at all of our hospital buildings, but don’t forget to check signs for time limits and, of course, only use a disabled space if you’re displaying a Blue Badge.

There are also a few designated permit spaces for patients who need to attend hospital for long-term treatment. These spaces are free and next the department you will be visiting. If these spaces are available, we’ll let you know when you receive details of your appointments.

Q-Park Limited run car parking at Royal Cornwall Hospital, you can contact them on 01872 272834 or 07795 371620.

External Parking

Cornwall Council runs a Park & Ride service – ‘Park for Truro’ – a mile and half up the road at Threemilestone. Park & Ride buses all come through the hospital site. It’s open from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Saturday, and the service is quick and efficient: every ten minutes during peak times, every 15 minutes at all other times For more information, including costs, visit the Park for Truro website or call them on 01872 279270.

Public transport

It’s not a bad idea to think of alternative transport if you can; for public transport information, please visit the Cornwall Public Transport Information website or call Traveline on 0871 200 22 33.

Help with transport

If you need help getting to the hospital, there are several community transport schemes that could help. If you receive Income Support or other benefits, you might also be able to reclaim your travel and parking expenses; visit our practical help and advice section for more information.

The Royal Cornwall Hospital has two pharmacies. The general pharmacy department is in the Tower Block, near Mullions Restaurant. There’s also a Lloyds pharmacy in the Link Centre, next to the Trelawny Wing; it dispenses for the emergency department and outpatients, which means the general pharmacy can concentrate on inpatients, specialist medicines and medicines for patients going home. Neither pharmacy dispenses FP10 prescriptions written by GPs. Patients can pick up their medicines from Lloyds in the same way as in a high street pharmacy. The usual exemptions will apply to payments, and staff can advise on the national pre-payment schemes for patients receiving regular prescriptions.

Opening Hours

Monday to Friday (5 days) 8.40am to 6pm
Saturday and Sunday including Bank Holiday (2 days) 8.30am to 5pm

Lloyds Pharmacy Opening Hours

Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm
Saturday 9am to 1pm

Many of our Royal Cornwall Hospital wards have entertainment and telephone units at each bedside. You can use these to access various free and paid-for services, including radio, TV, movies, internet, phone and text message facilities, games and hospital information.

There units offer a wide selection of TV channels including BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, C4, C5, ITV 2 & 3, Sky Sports News, UKTV History and many more (regional variations apply). There are free TV and movie previews as well as some free TV periods. Patients can also watch the latest films from United International Pictures. Movies can be paused, fast-forwarded and rewound at any time, so you’ll never miss a moment.

The ‘Information Centre’ button on the bedside units will take you to full instructions on how to use the units, and details of what each service costs. You can buy paid-for services at the pay machines around the hospital or by pushing the ‘operator’ button and paying with a debit or credit card over the phone.

This service is operated by Premier Bedside and their helpers, in orange shirts and blue trousers, are in the hospital 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 2pm on Sundays to help patients and visitors. You can also press the ‘operator’ button on your unit for assistance.

These units are installed at no cost to the NHS as part of a national programme led by the Department of Health to offer patients access to a range of services while they’re in hospital.

You can use these in the hospitals, however they can be disruptive for other patients on the wards so we ask that you are respectful, use headphones if possible and switch them off if a member of staff asks you to.

They can sometimes interfere with medical equipment, so if you are asked to switch them off by one of our staff, please do so straight away.

There is free WiFi available in the public areas of the Royal Cornwall Hospital, such as the coffee shops and restaurants.

To connect to WiFi in public areas

The WiFi network is called NHS-WiFi. It is an open network and you don’t need a password. To get access, connect to the network in the usual way and a short registration form should pop up automatically. Your device will then stay connected for 24 hours, after which you’ll need to reconnect by filling out the form again.

If your device can’t find the NHS-WiFi network, it means we haven’t got access in that part of the hospital yet.

Our dining rooms, cafés and shops are open to visitors, patients and staff, and their opening hours are listed below, although it might be worth double checking with staff. (You should also ask for advice from a doctor or nurse if you’re on a special diet and thinking of using the dining room.)

Ingredients Restaurant, Tower Block

8am to 4pm Monday to Friday
Serving a full range of hot and cold foods including breakfasts, snacks, main meals and drinks.

Ingredients Coffee lounge

8am to 6pm Monday to Friday
Serving coffee, cakes and snacks. Wi-Fi is available here.

Cornwall Food Cafe, Trelawny Wing entrance

8am to 6pm Monday to Friday
8am to 4pm Saturday and Sunday.
Serving a wide range of snacks and drinks.

League of Friends Coffee Bar, Tower Block entrance

9am to 4pm all week.
Serving a range of snacks and drinks.

League of Friends Refreshment Bar, Mermaid Centre

Open during clinic hours, Tuesday to Friday. Serving a range of snacks and
drinks.

WH Smiths, Trelawny Wing entrance

8am to 8pm daily
Newsagent, confectionery, snacks, cards, gifts and flowers. A trolley service also
visits the wards each day.

Vending machines

• Emergency Department, main entrance foyer
• Maternity, ground floor
• Renal Unit, ground floor: Beverage unit
• Tower Reception, ground floor: varied choice of items, hot drinks and sandwiches
• Trelawny, 1st floor (Entrance Corridor): snacks and hot drinks
• Trelawny, Ground Floor (by Lloyds Pharmacy): snack machine

There is a cash machine located in the main entrance to Trelawny wing. It does not charge for withdrawals.

There is a Royal Mail post box located in the main entrance to Trelawny wing. You can buy stamps at WH Smiths.

The General Office provides a front-line cash service and a point of contact for patients who are eligible to claim travel expenses for hospital appointments.

What we do at the General Office:

• Help patients that qualify for travel reimbursements. We can advice whether patients are in receipt of the relevant benefits and provide advice on the methods of transport that can be reimbursed in full.
• Receive payments for invoices and donations to any of the hospital’s wards or departments.
• Accept donations to the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust Charitable Fund
• We encourage patients to leave valuable items and large sums of cash at home, but if this isn’t possible, we can keep patient’s cash and valuables safe and secure.
• Receive lost property items (we’ll keep them for three months)
• Provide travel information on how to get to your hospital appointment

Opening Hours

9.00am to 4.15pm, Monday to Friday

Location

1st floor of the Trelawny wing at the Royal Cornwall Hospital (just past the main Trelawny reception on the left)

Phone

01872 252690