Hospital Car Park Charges

[Don Madge]

On Tuesday evening my 19 year old grandson had an accident on his motorbike. Fortunately it was outside a fire station and he got prompt medical attention from the fire-fighters.

 

He finished up with a leg fracture and was in hospital for two nights before being allowed home.

 

In that time my daughter paid £35.00 in car parking fees in the hospital car park, money she could ill afford at this time of the year.

 

How on earth can they justify such high tariffs.

 

Don

 

[Bazza454]

Unfortunately this is now normal in England.

Presumably the increased car park charges help fund the cost of the vast number of NHS "Managers."

However, if you live in Scotland -  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7593400.stm

- but that's another story.....

[malc d]

Don Madge - 2008-12-06 9:52 PM

 

On Tuesday evening my 19 year old grandson had an accident on his motorbike. Fortunately it was outside a fire station and he got prompt medical attention from the fire-fighters.

 

He finished up with a leg fracture and was in hospital for two nights before being allowed home.

 

In that time my daughter paid £35.00 in car parking fees in the hospital car park, money she could ill afford at this time of the year.

 

How on earth can they justify such high tariffs.

 

Don

 

 

 

The fact is, Don, that they can not justify such excessive charges.

 

I understand that there would be a problem, with city centre hospital car parks getting packed out with thoughtless shoppers, if they were free, but £35 for a couple of days is indefensible.

 

I trust your grandson will make a speedy recovery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Klyne]

I don't really have an objection to hospital making charges for parking, its often more important to know you can find a space. Here in MK its £2 for up to 4 hours. £35 seems somewhat excessive. I wonder if the hopital has a system of permits for people who have to stay with relatives during longer stays, it might be worth asking. I hope he is getting on OK.

 

David

[J9withdogs]

As a volunteer driver, I am becoming a bit of an expert on hospital car parks!

 

Here in Shropshire we pay £2 per day - INCLUDING BLUE BADGE HOLDERS!!! (Now that's disgusting, in my opinion)

 

Over in Wolverhampton, blue badge holders park for free, but parking charges for over 3 hours are more to a maximum of £5.

 

In Redditch charges are even more - £3.50 for over 2 hours rising to £7.50 for over 6 hours! Blue badge holders are free.

 

Many of the hospitals offer long term parking passes at reduced rates.

 

I think that the whole system stinks!

[mco]

Couldn't agree more with what's been said.

Five years ago Mike was diagnosed with acute myloid leukaemia. His chemotherapy treatment kept him in hospital for 6 weeks, home for 2 weeks to recover then back in hospital to start all over again. He should have had 5 or 6 sessions of this but the treatment went belly up and pretty well came close to killing him.

 

To save his life he had to have a bone marrow transplant at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

 

When he was in Dumfries hospital I spent 7 - 8 hours a day, every day with him. When he was in Glasgow I spent 12 hours a day for 5 weeks.

 

Had he been in hospital that charged for parking, the Lord only knows how much it would have cost.

 

Eighteen months ago he had to have 25 sessions of radiotherapy over a 5 week period at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Parking was not free at this hospital but we went up in the motorhome and stayed on the C.C. site on the outskirts and got a bus to the hospital.

 

Yes Janine it stinks that people are charged for parking at hospitals.It's bad enough that people are ill without having to put up with the extra financial burden that illness causes.

 

When my Dad was dying 15 years ago, in the Deryshire Royal Infirmary, unbeknown to me, they had brought parking charges in. The attendant demanded the fee. I told him that if he expected me to pay sit and watch my Dad die he could think again and I bl..dy well wasn't paying.

 

Sorry to go on, but boy do I feel strongly about this. Lets not forget also that the nursing staff also have to pay for their parking.

[howie]

£35.00 is nothing more than profiteering, and while there might be some argument that hospitals have to maintain car parking faciltities, more often than not these are leased out to private companies for a nominal sum who then take the profits that, in theory at least, could be put towards much needed hospital funding.

The last thing that patients and family need is the extra worry of parking charges or possible fines at what can be a distressing and stressfull time, and the sooner we follow the example of Scotland and Wales the better.

 

[GJH]

The profiteering isn't necessarily the result of too many NHS managers or leasing out to private companies but the result of a PFI deal where the PFI company slips a clause into the contract allowing it to make money from car parking.

 

Our local (South Tees) NHS Trust has two hospitals, a wonderful small one at Northallerton where car parking is pay & display from £1 for 2 hours and the multi million pound massive site in Middlesbrough where it costs something like £3 for 2 hours and is pay on foot with a ticket to raise the exit barrier (stops people passing on P&D tickets if they've only been there a few minutes).

 

Only one of those sites has a PFI company involved. No prizes for guessing which.

 

Graham

[colin]

Hospital car parks now you've got me going!

So you drive to Hospital, search for a disabled spot, unload wheel chair and bumped across the rough car park to get to entrance door, then you find door won't stay open and threashold to to high to roll wheel chair over, get the patient out wheelchair and prop them against door to hold it open take wheelchair inside and help patient throu door back into wheelchair then couple of hours later do the reverse, then get charged for it!

You then go to Sainsbury's, park right outside doors, glide into shop, fit the 'wheelchair trolley', glide around shop, go to till and get asked "would you like help loading car". Maybe we need the supermarkets running the hospitals!

 

[lumpy]

Perhaps its another finger our Gordon. has got in , it,s disgusting >:-(

[kelly58]

We were at Norwich Hospital last week for 2 days parking is 1st 30 minutes free for pick up or set down £2 up to 3 hrs then £3 up to 4hrs and £6 all day , but they have an arrangement with Park and Ride only £1 per car and 5 passengers 09.30 until 18.00 which takes less than 10 mins a great financial help to most people.