hospital parking charges

mumto2loves

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

Please name and shame the hospital, so we can all feel pity.

Ooops, the maximum charge at GRH is £8.20 for 24 hours
http://www.gloshospitals.org.uk/Patients-and-Visitors/Travel-and-Parking/

OP, please enlighten us as to why you were charged so ecessively.

Note, when Freda was not very well last year, I recall not being charged very much at all!

Hi

I just looked up the hospital website (southampton general), It actually says maximum £30 but it def said £32 on the machine - maybe the website isn't up to date?

Car parking charges at Southampton General Hospital and Princess Anne Hospital as of 10 May 2010.
Period of stay Charge Up to 1 hour £1.90 Up to 3 hours £3.60 Up to 4 hours £4.60 Up to 5 hours £5.60 Up to 6 hours £6.60 Up to 24 hours £30.00
http://www.suht.nhs.uk/GettingHere/SGH/ParkingatSouthamptonGeneralHospital/Parkingcharges.aspx
it was over 6 hours so jumped from £6.60 to £32 (£30) and i see that it says patient and visitor discounts available but they had to speak to 3 different people to get it (the 1st 2 didn't mention it at all!)

mumto2loves

bazzaboo wrote: »

Last wk I had to take my son to a&e, we were there for 7hrs! I also had my daughter with me. After a very long day we where all tired, my nerves where blank after looking after a poorly 4yr old and a hyper 2yr old. We got to the ticket machine and it wanted 30quid!!!!!!!:eek: I nearly burst into tears.
There was a note on the machine which said that you can get a discount ticket from the department if you were there for a long time. Fair enough but why not have these notices at the a&e department which was a 10 min walk away. Which can be a very long 10min with 2 crying toddlers in tow.
I pushed the button and explained my situation and the young man was very sympathetic and let us out free of charge.:j:j:T:T
Made my day.

thats horrible! the distance sounds like southampton general. I think I would have cried:o
the thing is, if you are in an a+e department, especially for hours and hours, you're not going to be doing it for fun!
I know nurses are very very busy, but i think they could hand out parking passes on discharge or something it wouldn't take any time to hand over a parking ticket with the other things you normally get (care leaflets or prescription or drs letter or what ever)

bazzaboo

mumto2loves wrote: »

Hi

I just looked up the hospital website (southampton general), It actually says maximum £30 but it def said £32 on the machine - maybe the website isn't up to date?

Car parking charges at Southampton General Hospital and Princess Anne Hospital as of 10 May 2010.
Period of stay Charge Up to 1 hour £1.90 Up to 3 hours £3.60 Up to 4 hours £4.60 Up to 5 hours £5.60 Up to 6 hours £6.60 Up to 24 hours £30.00
http://www.suht.nhs.uk/GettingHere/SGH/ParkingatSouthamptonGeneralHospital/Parkingcharges.aspx
it was over 6 hours so jumped from £6.60 to £32 (£30) and i see that it says patient and visitor discounts available but they had to speak to 3 different people to get it (the 1st 2 didn't mention it at all!)

That's where we were. Think I must have caught the nice guy that day. I'm there quite often because of a condition of mine and spend a fortune in parking, if I'm not feeling too bad I sometimes park in the back roads and then walk.

moonrakerz

Humphrey10 wrote: »

If you have arranged your own transport to A&E they should thank you for saving them the cost of an ambulance journey, rather than charging you for parking the car imo.

Slight flaw there ! "They" aren't paying for the ambulance - you are !

ladylouise62

It's a ridiculous situation, and even if you are not at A&E you can't tell how long you are going to have to wait. I've turned up for an 8.30 appointment and left at 1 because it turned out that everyone was given 8.30 and everyone else knew that and turned up early, so I was the last in the queue.

smcaul

Ahh, good old parking at Soton!!! My other half was in Princess Ann for about a week after the birth of our 2nd, was in intensive care etc, I had to come and go at all hours and it would have been horrific if paying the full normal charges! Only way to get reduced rates was to go to the cash office and get a special dispensation etc, only problem was I could not get to the cash office at their opening times!!!

This just resulted in me pressing the buzzer at the barrier everytime, they normally refused to lift it until I just told them I would just call the police, they would always lift it in the end. Poxy jobsworths, last thing I needed at that time was to be dealing with that sort of junk!

bazzaboo

smcaul wrote: »

Ahh, good old parking at Soton!!! My other half was in Princess Ann for about a week after the birth of our 2nd, was in intensive care etc, I had to come and go at all hours and it would have been horrific if paying the full normal charges! Only way to get reduced rates was to go to the cash office and get a special dispensation etc, only problem was I could not get to the cash office at their opening times!!!

This just resulted in me pressing the buzzer at the barrier everytime, they normally refused to lift it until I just told them I would just call the police, they would always lift it in the end. Poxy jobsworths, last thing I needed at that time was to be dealing with that sort of junk!

It's ridiculous isn't it. When somebody is ill in hospital the last thing you need is worrying about parking charges and whether you can afford it.
When my dd was born she was in the Princess Ann special care unit for a month but they had a machine in there where you could stamp your ticket and then only pay 50p for parking. A godsend I tell you.

Yogibear

Lip_Stick wrote: »

Hard for me to say this, but for once I'm glad I've got a disabled Dad. My son had to go to hospital for a half hour appointment. This would have cost over £5 in car park charges for a single appointment if Dad hadn't given us a lift. Times that by about 6 or 7 times. A shocking money making scheme from kids etc who are poorly. Awful.

I hate to say this but your dad is abusing the disabled badge,it was issued to him for HIM not YOU to benefit ie not pay for parking:mad:

caz2703

My husband had to rush me to A&E a few months ago. He had to arrange for my parents to meet us up there to take our son while I was being treated. We were there for some 3-4 hours and when DH went to pay for the ticket, we realised that the machine wouldn't accept cards and neither of us had any cash on us and my parents had long since left (strangely lifting cash wasn't the first thing on our minds when rushing to hospital). We asked in A&E and they spoke to the security firm who very kindly waived the fee although I can't remember how much it was.

As someone said before, my husband saved the health service a lot of money by not getting me blue lighted and instead driving himself. I can understand if you're going to visit someone or have a routine appointment that charges should apply but when you're in A&E for hours the charges should be waived. Of course, there are also some situations that I feel don't deserve parking fees such as regular appointments for a serious condition such as cancer or going for dialysis. I begrudge paying for my ante-natel appointments as I'm there every week at the minute but I accept that at least I'm healthy and can afford to pay.

Ihatecameron

The last time I had to use a NHS hospital I parked on double yellows near the A&E entrance, left a note in the window saying "driver being treated in A&E" no charge.