hospital car parking charges

lemontart · 8 August 2006 at 10:18AM

Not sure if correct section but here goes, last night at about 11pm I had to take my pet teen to the emergency drs at based on our local hospital grounds, and was amazed to see that even in the dead of night the car park barrier was down an you had to get a ticket..............ok thought exit one prolly be open and you would not have to pay at night as reason charging supposedly so they claimed introduced was to distract people from parking up and going into town (though It is a very long walk from town centre) ended up being sent to a&e and eventually left there at gone 4am this morning.........luckly for me I actually had some cash on me as it cost £5.

I feel that given that no one would be at the hospital at nite unless it was an emergency and defo not gonna be there for shopping it is just not on..............mind you I know hospital in dire straights finacially.

There were several people having to call others to come out in dead of nite with some money for car park as the last thing on their minds when leaving for hospital was to make sure they had some cash on them.

rant over

Beth
x

LondonDiva · 8 August 2006 at 8:37PM

I disagree - if you live in London, most of the hospitals are next to prime tourist & rail sites and day OR night would be full of chancers to the exclusion of all else. As it is, they are fighting a daily battle to keep the spaces clear. If I had my way, they'd build over the spaces apart from space for staff parking, buses and ambulances.

Two examples below

St Thomas' - Waterloo station, London Eye, Trafalger Sq, Westminster etc
Guy's - London Bridge, I can just see all those who commute via

dmg24 · 8 August 2006 at 8:44PM

Would you rather that the hospitals diverted funds from treating patients to securing and maintaining the car parks?

The NHS has a finite pot of money ... if you put it into one area it inevitably is to the detriment of another.

wobbley · 9 August 2006 at 10:58AM

dmg24 wrote:

The NHS has a finite pot of money ... if you put it into one area it inevitably is to the detriment of another.

And if they keep using a pot thats 'full of holes' patients and services will suffer too.

lemontart · 9 August 2006 at 11:57AM

fair enough but they used the excuse for introducing charges that people were using the hospital to park in then walk to town, which is a very long walk as it is. And the going rate for all day parking in my town is £3.50 and they still make profit on that, also if you are rushing to a&e with someone the last thing you think about is picking up money for car park...........I fortunately had some in pocket so I was ok whereas others there had none and no way of getting car out if they had no one to call to help get money.

Those were my points apologies if not made clear. Another one is my now departed ex father in law was in there for 2 1/2 months before passing and his pensioner wife could ill afford the charges to visit him daily.............there are weekly tickets but they are not advertised on the carpark charge boards or anywhere else in clear site.

Beth
xxx

pickledtink · 9 August 2006 at 12:17PM

I agree with the op totally. This is a money making ploy and although I don't object to making some payment Hospital parking charges often seem to be pretty steep.

The fact that they are run by private parking companies also means there is no compassionate judgement in emergency situations either. Nor do any of the schemes differentiate between users needs and offer much in the way of long or short term charging.
Anyone on a low income who needs to visit a child or close relative daily would be in real trouble.
Our local hospital used to have a set charge which covered 24 hours. Fine if you are in and out all day or spending hours there. Not good when I used to have to fly in to deliver some clean clothes or a book to an elderly neighbour. If I had visited her daily it would have cost me £24.50 a week so I didn't. I felt absolutely awful when she died in there ( unexpected) and faced up to the fact that I had not visited her as often as I could have. The parking costs WERE a factor.

Geoggy · 9 August 2006 at 12:24PM

it isnt a money making ploy.

it covers the cost of the external security contractors to manage the car parks and provide a secure parking environment.

all hospitals have schemes whereby regular attenders can get discounts.

try calling you PAL co-ordinator (patient liason person - hospital switch will put you through) to enquire.

why is it not advertised? good point. maybe we should sack a few nurses and spend the cash on PR advice?

dmg24 · 9 August 2006 at 12:46PM

The fact that they are run by private parking companies

Not all hospital car parks are run by private parking companies. Some are, some are run by the Trust in question.

there is no compassionate judgement in emergency situations

Wrong. My local hospital will consider any appeal on parking charges on a case by case basis. Where, for instance, somebody is attending on a near daily basis for medical treatment, their parking charges will be refunded. Where someone is attending for a one off appointment or visit, the charges will not be refunded.

Nor do any of the schemes differentiate between users needs and offer much in the way of long or short term charging

As stated above, appeals are considered on a case by case basis, according to users needs.

Most hospital car parks offer hourly, daily, weekly and monthly tickets.

I felt absolutely awful when she died in there ( unexpected) and faced up to the fact that I had not visited her as often as I could have. The parking costs WERE a factor.

I'm very sorry that your neighbour died, but do you not feel rather foolish saying that the fact that you had to pay to park meant that you did not visit her as much as you could have?!

If you are going to make generalised statements as you have, then please get your facts correct first.

SammyD_2 · 12 August 2006 at 11:34PM

I agree with the OP. When I had my daughter last year, my husband (who accompanied me) ended up paying over £25 in parking charges from the time we arrived at the hospital to the time he left. While this was a London hospital, it is not in central London (St Georges in Tooting), and I thought it was outrageous. While we had been told that you could get a discount if you were having a baby by asking the postnatal ward staff, none of them knew anything about it.

The other thing that really annoyed me is the mobile phone policy. The research is absolutely unequivocal - mobile phones to do not interfere with hospital equipment, except in very limited circumstances, with very specialised equipment and at very close range (ie, less than 30cm). Yet "for privacy reasons" you are supposed to not use your mobile phone and instead pay extortionate amounts for the bedside phones, which are nothing but a rip off.

littleange · 12 August 2006 at 11:52PM

My mum had this with my grandad recently, he went in for some tests and ended up staying in 2 weeks and parking was £3 a time and he didn't want to be alone so mum had no choice but to go to both visiting times each day at £3 a time so £6 a day for 2 weeks thats £84 which she had no choice but to pay. Seems to be taking advantage of a situation where people don't think twice about paying it as their loved ones aren't well. This was in North Wales, where there definately wasn't anything in easy walking distance.

I have been to visit a few friends in hospital here in Leeds at St. James's and Im sure there was no charges, unless I just missed them.

dmg24 · 13 August 2006 at 1:10AM

littleange,

You do pay for parking at St James'.

You would have been able to get a weekly ticket at a reduced rate. You just need to ask.

It is irrelevant that there is nothing within walking distance. Car park charges are there because someone has to maintain the car parks and ensure that your car is secure.

SammyD,

If the ward staff didn't know, then ask someone else! Not everybody in the hospital can know everything.

The mobile phone policy is in place for a reason. Yes, mobile phones only cause harm in very limited circumstances ... but what if an emergency occurs and somebody is using their phone? Try to get their attention? Wait for them to finish the call? To be blunt, it is a hospital, rules like this are in place to save lives. Even on a general ward, emergencies do occur.

Everyone moans about the lack of funding for the NHS, yet the same people expect these funds to be spent on secure parking and marketing information on car parking rates.

If people don't like it, then go private! Then you won't have a car or mobile to complain about, because you'll have sold it to be able to afford the treatment!

hospital car parking charges

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