Free Traffic Legal Advice

Are you sure it's not a private parking ticket?

Please post up all sides of the PCN - at the moment we do't even know which of the many Q.E.Hospitals this is.

It's a Parking Charge Notice (private) rather than a Penalty Charge Notice (Council).
Ive asked a mod to move to https://www.ftla.uk/private-parking-tickets/

Sorry to hear about the medical situation - hope your partner and baby are well.

Looking at the contravention, you may be 'bang to rights', assuming the signs make clear that vehicles must be wholly within marked bays.

Regarding your specific queries:

• There is no grace period for parking outside of marked bays. There's what is often referred to as a 'consideration period' - the minimum time for this is not specifically defined by the IPC's Code of Practice (it is in the BPA's: 5 minutes), but it essentially means that a motorist must be allowed sufficient time to consider the terms of the contract on offer and decide whether or not he accepts it, before he can be deemed to be bound by the contract and thus liable for charges. The issue here will be that you chose not to consider the terms on offer, and instead went straight into the hospital (this is entirely understandable given the situation of course), and could therefore be deemed to have accepted the contract by conduct.
• You won't be able to claim back the cost of the parking already paid for

A good first step would be to speak to the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) at the hospital in question, explaining the situation and asking if they can intervene. Parking enforcement in NHS car parks is supposed to deter misuse, not penalise patients. Admittedly in this case your parking might fall into the category of what might be considered 'misuse', but you can try and appeal to PALS' good nature here.

I read on another thread that judges tend to throw out cases of not parking wholly in bays as they are often deemed de minimis. Have you heard this?

Which thread is that?

The concept of de minimis non curat lex is that the courts are not concerned with trifling matters (for example where any alleged contravention is so small as to be insignificant). Where this is applied to  marked bay scenarios is generally where a parking operator has issued a charge because, as an example, one tyre is slightly brushing the white line of the bay the driver has parked in, with no discernible impact on anybody. I think you would struggle to argue that a case where the vehicle is entirely outside a bay altogether is de minimis.

I'd assume any parking outside marked bays thrown own might be where wheels are on dividing bay lines etc? In the image you posted the car isn't anywhere near a bay so de Minimus might be a reach!!

DWMB2 is absolutely right.  I had the wrong document open on my screen when I posted my previous reply which I have deleted!

I still think the notice fails to comply with the statutory procedure for keeper liability, but not so blatantly that the biased so called "Independent Appeals Service" (IAS) will definitely allow the appeal.  It's worth appealing as IAS decisions are not binding on motorists so even if the IAS appeal goes the wrong way, Wise Parking would need to take the case to court in order to enforce the charge and if OP has the will and temerity to play the long game according to the rules, they should be able to defeat the PCN.

So here is my updated advice.  OP should either pay the PCN for a quiet life or play the long game starting with an online appeal to Wise Parking.  If OP is up for the fight, here's what I suggest

1.  OP amend their initial post to remove any clue as to who was driving.

2.  Appeal online to Wise Parking as follows:

I appeal as keeper.  I am not obliged to identify the driver and I decline to do so. You cannot transfer the driver's liability (if any) to me as keeper because your PCN does not satisfy the conditions for keeper liability set out in paragraph 9 of Schedule 4 to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 ("POFA") and it is now too late for you to deliver a POFA-compliant notice to keeper.  Specifically (and without limitation) the PCN does not specify "the period of parking to which the notice relates" as required by POFA paragraph 9(2)(a) - "N/A - N/A" is not a period.  I require you to cancel the PCN and erase my personal information from your database.

Do not click any drop down menu items or state anything that might indicate who was driving.  If the online system tries to insist on driver details, come back for further advice.

I expect Wise Parking will reject the appeal and offer you the opportunity of a further appeal to IAS.  Come back for more advice if that happens.

As part of your “Plan A” find the name of the CEO of the NHS Trust that operates the hospital and email him/her with a complaint about this. If you are getting nowhere with PALS, this is another way to get this moving in the right direction.

You should also email your MP and raise this issue and ask for their intervention in the matter. Too many victims of these unregulated private parking companies never even attempt Plan A and if they do, put far too little effort into it when, in fact, this is probably the easiest way to get these cancelled.