Volunteers who help elderly and infirm patients are turning their back on their work due to poor parking at Oxford's major hospitals.

Managers at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust were today told that many people who give their time free of charge were now refusing to help, because of a lack of spaces at the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals.

Volunteer drivers, who take outpatients to appointments, have started to reject jobs involving visits to the two hospitals.

Because many of their clients need help getting around, or are at their appointments for a long time, the drivers say the hospitals' drop-off and pick-up points are useless.

Parking is also an issue for helpers at Sobell House hospice, based at the Churchill site, who often turn round and drive home after failing to find a space.

The situation came to light at a meeting of the trust's Public and Patient Involvement Forum, which was packed with patients, volunteer workers and NHS staff angry about parking. Many said there was not enough space for visitors, while others complained that volunteers were forced to pay, because they had no designated spaces.

Barbara Kershaw, of Wallingford Volunteer Service, said: "Our drivers do about 700-800 jobs every year, but they don't want to go to Oxford any more. They'll take people to community hospitals and Reading, but the lack of parking at Oxford puts them off.

"As they're volunteers, we can't force them to go, which means our clients have to get buses - which they find difficult - or have to use taxis, which is prohibitive."

Volunteer driver Brian Stoneley, who works for Wheatley Care, added: "Going to the JR I find very difficult. I just don't park there, because I don't know how long my patient is going to be.

"Instead, I drive off somewhere and park in a residential street - probably in front of someone's drive - until I get a call to go and pick the patient up."

Alix Michaelis of Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, which acts as an umbrella organisation for the county's 70 volunteer driver schemes, said the ORH had reduced its own transport scheme 18 months ago, and relied heavily on volunteers as a result.

ORH assistant estates director Mervyn Phipps said that as well as improved parking, staff were working to improve public transport links to encourage visitors to leave their cars at home.

After the meeting, he said: "It's by listening to our patients and other key groups that we can continue to make improvements to our services. As clarified at the meeting, there seems to have been some misunderstanding to where volunteer drivers can park, which we hope has now been resolved.

"We greatly value the service all our volunteers provide and will always try and make sure we accommodate their needs as much as we can."