A hospital Chief Exec. who believes the disabled a cheats.

Trebor16

pickpocketlocket wrote: »

I don't understand why people expect hospital parking to be free. Would you really rather see budgets allocated to car parks than treatment?

People don't go to hospital because they want to but because they have to. Its not usually a pleasurable experience to have to visit. To be charged for having to park there is immoral. It is free to park in most hospitals in Wales and Scotland so why not England.


As for the comment about budgets, we are all paying into the NHS already as a result of income tax, national insurance, VAT and other forms of taxation. Why should we be expected to put our hands in our pockets when we have to use the service we have already paid for!

Trebor16

pickpocketlocket wrote: »

I used to be a Finance Manager in the NHS, so I have seen the figures that justify charging. Car parks do not run themselves! You have stated that the funding should come from taxes - are you going to pay more taxes to cover this?

If you were a NHS finance manager I wonder what you did to curb the waste within the NHS. Start with the fees paid to contractors on a daily basis, money spent on jollies to conferences, poor procurement of equipment and services at costs which are poor value for the NHS.


The NHS could easily afford to do away with car parking charges and savings can be made elsewhere without affecting frontline services.

Plushchris

splishsplash wrote: »

I wonder how much of that went to the companies put in to manage the carparks, and how much was spent on repainting/resurfacing the carparks (the only justifiable expense to recoup, imho)?

Thats the only costs that should come from car parks, maybe including lighting costs and groundskeeping (grass/tree cutting etc) which would realy be an expense for the hospital regardless of if the carpark was there or not..

Assuming the carpark is well constructed in the first place then white lines etc need not be a yearly cost and could/should go for years without needing re-surfacing and re-spraying

The cost of parking at hospitals is sicker than most of the people inside the hospital IMO

SodG24

Trebor16 wrote: »

If you were a NHS finance manager I wonder what you did to curb the waste within the NHS. Start with the fees paid to contractors on a daily basis, money spent on jollies to conferences, poor procurement of equipment and services at costs which are poor value for the NHS.


The NHS could easily afford to do away with car parking charges and savings can be made elsewhere without affecting frontline services.

Maybe if the NHS trusts had actually worked together rather fighting each other on the national NHS patient records and email system it wouldn't have wasted the £1b+ which could have then been spent on providing free parking. The NHS "management" are the most wasteful government organisation after the MOD.

Sir_Roger_deLodger

Trebor16 wrote: »

It is free to park in most hospitals in Wales and Scotland so why not England.

Which is why, when I have to visit my local [English] hospital I don't pay, giving me the added bonus of another PPC invoice for my collection.

taffy056

pickpocketlocket wrote: »

I used to be a Finance Manager in the NHS, so I have seen the figures that justify charging. Car parks do not run themselves! You have stated that the funding should come from taxes - are you going to pay more taxes to cover this?

I cannot give current figures, but at my old Trust the cost was over £100,000 a year - hardly negligible.

Actually car parks do run themselves, there are countless thousands of them without parking companies and without any charges, there are retailers who don't rely on an income from such places. The upkeep is from the staff already employed by these companies. Hospitals employ people specifically to maintain the grounds and estate so these people are there already and are part of the parcel of the expenses.

You are quoting £100k a year to run a car park, so the extra £1.5m or so is far in excess of what it costs to run, so the hospital and their agents make a profit on the sick. Which as we fund the nhs to the tune of billions is disgusting. The £100k could be saved by one or two less jaunts across the world by staff.

As for taxes I think we pay enough into the service already, perhaps if the chief excutives of trusts took a pay cut of £100k a year it could be done? Or if they could some of the administration costs it would save a few billions a year ?

mikey72

Sir_Roger_deLodger wrote: »

Which is why, when I have to visit my local [English] hospital I don't pay, giving me the added bonus of another PPC invoice for my collection.

An excellent arguement for a barrier system in all car parks.

giraffe69

Another thread with too much hot air.
1. I think it is unacceptable to charge the workforce to park at their place of work.
2. If the scheme does come in to charge then a FOI request to see whether the Chief Exec pays or not would be amusing (more amusing if he does not).
3. If parking is free as it is in Scotland and Wales at present then there will be a funding gap always assuming that the charges raise more than they cost to collect.
4. If there is a charge and you must pay when entering then if you are kept waiting for your appointment you should not be in the position of getting some form of penalty for the overstay time.
5. Blue badges don't count and they are abused as suggested above however it would not be impossible for the hospital to have some form of permit for regular visitors with access problems and saying they should get the bus is not really an acceptable answer.
6. I don't qualify for any badge and when I visit I don't mind a modest charge provided it isn't all going to the parking company and it is set at a reasonable rate and it is easy to pay.

taffy056

mikey72 wrote: »

An excellent arguement for a barrier system in all car parks.

Yes barriers should be used where practical, like in one of my local nhs hospital's (singleton) with a uni next door, you get a free token to get out from inside the hospital at nurses stations or outpatients. But in another local hospital (neath & port talbot) there is no need for barriers as there is plenty of parking and they even have someone helping with parking. In yet another local one (morriston) they have built a multi storey that helps as space is limited. All these hospitals offer free parking and barrier controlled sections for staff.


None issue scare mongering statements about cutting front line services with parking as its funded by the welsh government, the same should happen in england. Parking is essential and there are no options for some, taxing people for being ill is beneath contempt, the sooner it's stopped the better.

mikey72

taffy056 wrote: »

Yes barriers should be used where practical, like in one of my local nhs hospital's (singleton) with a uni next door, you get a free token to get out from inside the hospital at nurses stations or outpatients. But in another local hospital (nearh & pirt talbot) there is no need for barriers as there is plenty of parking and they even have someone helping with parking. In yet another local one (morriston) they have built a multi storey that helps as space is limited. All these hospitals offer free parking and barrier controlled sections for staff.


None issue scare mongering statements about cutting front line services with parking as its funded by the welsh government, the same should happen in england. Parking is essential and there are no options for some, taxing people for being ill is beneath contempt, the sooner it's stopped the better.

Hospitals like this should be barrier controlled, as most should be. To keep the excess cars out though. There's no other way to fairly control what is simply a lack of space.

This one is normally completely full, and a barrier on the entrance as well would stop cars circling the car park, and queuing three deep behind anyone trying to get out of a space.
A lot of the problem is indeed the abuse of blue badges, or indeed the fact you don't now need one to use a disabled space, so they are filled quickly too, and left for days or weeks.

Priority to outpatients would be good, then long term patients, and turning away visitors when full would be helpful.

Failing that, the only other choice would be to build another multistorey where a ward is, as there is nowhere else, and they certainly couldn't close the car park to build it.

Or just close the hospital, and build yet another one out of town, with enough land to keep expanding the parking outwards.

Knock down surrounding houses?
Tarmac over the cemetery?