Hospital parking charges

emmell

Have you checked to see if they issue passes (at a greatly reduced rate) for familys of people whose relative has to stay in hospital.
Our local hospital does this but you have to get the ward sister to sign something.
The problem with our local hospital is the lack of spaces, by the time the staff have parked for the day there's not much parking left.
And I'm not complaining about staff parking because if they didn't go to work there would be no hospital for us, just that there are not enough spaces.
ML>

Angelic

iamana1ias wrote: »

Why? That's exactly what devolution is for!

Let's not start on whether devolution is a waste of time and money or i'll be here all night! It's pointless from an economic perspective , surely?
Does NHS Scotland receive money from English taxes? Does NHS Wales? Anyway , slightly off topic but I think it's wrong charging so much and should be stopped.
If Scotland can cope without charges then why can't England?

iamana1ias

Angelic wrote: »

If Scotland can cope without charges then why can't England?

Because Scotland will be going without something else to pay for it! What would you give up in order to not pay for car parking in hospital?

BillTrac

It used to be that Blue Badge holders(who don't have a lot of choice how far away they park) used to get free parking at our"super-duper SUPER HOSPITAL", and now the bar stewards charge everyone. Crikey they couldn't run the old not-so super hospital.

Whenever I vist anyone I park a little way away and walk. Although I know that even if I parked and didn't PAD then there isn't really a lot they could do. Just isn't worth the hassle.

And like an earlier poster said, if it benefitted the hospital and front line care maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't stick in the throat quite so much. But when you know it goes towards the profits of c**p companies like Carillion (and nothing wrong with naming them) then you know it stinks.

maimee_magic

Royal Derby does do passes but that's not the point. I think parking should be free at all hospitals in England as they are in Scotland. If it works there it should work here too. A letter to my MP is a good idea but I feel that just one person highlighting this problem isn't going to make them sit up and listen. I wanted to see how many others felt the same way and think this forum is an excellent tool for that. For those of us old enough to remember Citizen Smith "Power to the people".

unholyangel

iamana1ias wrote: »

Because Scotland will be going without something else to pay for it! What would you give up in order to not pay for car parking in hospital?

Can i give up paying lazy louts dole money? Or "kids" child benefits/dole money when they have only had the kid for extra money/to get a house/for attention?

I'll also give up the wages we paid to the designers of the new Forth Valley Royal Infirmary......which has over 3000 staff alone and only around 1200 car parking spaces - aswell as not being in town so public transport isnt really an option. It would take me nearly 3 hours on the bus to get there - not including walking time and it would cost me 5 times more than what it would to take my car if it were me alone, that goes up if i have anyone going with me.........and they wonder why people dont use public transport? pffft.

bonjourjoe

I think a main problem with hospital parking is that most are now based on the outskirts of large towns/cities with good transport links so lots of people used them as a free car park and ride service... I know since our local hospitals have started charging it's much easier to find a space - and I'd rather pay for a space than not be able to find one at all, especially when I have an appointment to meet or a friend/relative to visit. I think a major factor in them starting to charge was because people were abusing the system.

My dad's been in Derby hospital for a while too and while it is expensive (and also charges for disabled parking) you can get the weekly pass which is interchangable between different cars/people so you can spread the cost. We were visiting my dad every day for 2 hours so spending £2.30 a time but for that we had access to the disabled car park and we always found a space without any trouble even when it was busy.

What does annoy me is when you are at hospital for an appointment that runs late - often by a few hours - and you get charged extra for car parking when it's pay on exit... though at the pay and display hospitals near us its generally accepted that as long as you have a ticket in the first place you'll not get a ticket for exceeding it (obviously within reason!).

Angelic

iamana1ias wrote: »

Because Scotland will be going without something else to pay for it! What would you give up in order to not pay for car parking in hospital?

What has Scotland given up ? If I had friends and family I wouldn't want them to have the extra stress of paying car charges. If I ever drive I don't see why I should be charged extra on top of how much it already costs beng a regular hospital user. It's penalising sick people

cyberbob

iamana1ias wrote: »

Because Scotland will be going without something else to pay for it! What would you give up in order to not pay for car parking in hospital?

You don't seem to understand how hospital parking works. Most HP is run by private companies and the purpose of a Private company is to make money. Which is what they do. SO by removing Parking charges in Scotalnd all they have done is stop the companies profiting from it.

Hospitals who charge for parking the money made is not legally allowed to go on medical care it has to e spent on the parking infrastructure.. SO by cutting ot out there is very little that is lost.

whatmichaelsays

bonjourjoe wrote: »

I think a main problem with hospital parking is that most are now based on the outskirts of large towns/cities with good transport links so lots of people used them as a free car park and ride service...

I think this is part of the problem. Introduce free parking a there's a chance that you won't have a parking space at all. Particularly at hospitals such as Leeds General and Bradford Royal which are in the city centres. Why park in NCP when you can grab a free space at the hospital car park across the road?

Yes, hospital parking charges aren't nice but somebody has to pay for them (the brand spanking new multistory at St James' in Leeds didn't happen overnight) Surely the fairest way to pay for the building and upkeep of these spaces is to expect the people who use them to make the biggest contribution?