Parked in Hospital Disabled Bay

lstiore

Dear Forum,

I have been driving my friend and family member always to Queens Hospital in Romford Essex for regular treatments as the y are both Disabled requiring space to enter exit and assistance. Unfortunately they don't hold.a blue badge as they don't n drive regularly. We use the Disabled Bay mostly when no parking is suitable or available. As most appointment are during the morning hours we experienced always a huge amount of traffic with no space or Bays available. In some occasions i was forced to park on double lines (strangely enough then i wasn't fined despite the hospital is fitted with a large number of CCTV.. Parking at Queens is always stressful and time consuming to find a suitable bay with enough space and nearby the entrance as they suffer from mobility and other medical conditions
In the last few months starting from August 2017 i ve received two so called PCN or invoices to Pay.. At first i did ignore those payments request (following online advice), but now the price went up to 160GBP over couple of months!! This last invoice was sent by DRP a Debt Recovery agency in charge of collecting from us. Obviously we don't have the capital to pay for such ridiculous fine from an Hospital (especially now before Xmas)
The only reason for attending is based on set appointments.for treatments or to investigate monitor a number of medical conditions including regular Liver Cancer monitoring Scans and blood culture. Some of the diagnosis are in itself already devastating news but to be also fined unfairly is very upsetting and stressful to such point it makes me shake for fear. I know i shouldn't feel like that as it does not help, but it is a condition of mine i cannot control. The company which issued the fines is Gemini Parking Solutions in charge of Queens Parking As soon i received the PCN i wrote to PALS requesting advice/help as i never had to deal with such matters before which honestly speaking adds to my personal medical condition. Unfortunately i was also diagnosed being subject to anxiety attacks. .
Pals replied to me stating to contact Gemini Parking Solutions. But i feel very vulnerable to write to them as i fear for their reply.. I find this situation very unfair as i wouldn't know what else to do if i couldn't Park where its best suited to our needs. Also generally Parking Spaces are mostly not available and, as everyone knows delays can lead to appointment cancellations something we couldn't afford doing as it would have had an adverse impact to our health We regularly have to attend the hospital appointments (approx 1x monthly) . And to receive two Fines within few months is an incredible abuse. PALS wont even bother helping us despite detailed explaining and listing of our medical condition- we supplied them them also with medical evidence/ letters, something i felt very uncomfortable doing, especially after their "flatlined, unemotional unsympathetic " response.. This is a desperate call for some form of advice -support to resolve this issue. Alternatively for each appointment we could call the ambulance services instead. But we have been simply driving to our appointments in support of the NHS ambulance budgets In the past we were asked to help their service by finding alternative transportation where possible. To drive with our own car was/is our contribution to their call for help.
We did also notice other Blue badge holders being penalized on this day simply for not displaying their badge as they didn't have one but were visibly walking impaired .I wonder why an Hospital wouldn't issue a Parking Code for those with an appointment as it would simplify and avoid upsetting a wide range of people needing access to the hospital. Some people with dear medical needs like us.. A simple solution could be issuing a Code or Ticket sent to every appointee within their appointment letters. And last Paying a charge notice for parking inside the chargeable Hospital Parking building seems equally a very short sighted method to rob innocent drivers. As i explained before, i have been already fined twist (One for outside parking and one inside parking) , but sofar i have received the first notice to Pay 160gbp or face a CCJ. What can i do? Is there any solution to stop Gemini and help us and many others alike from such act of injustice?? Please advice, any comment is welcome. Thank you so much in advance. :o Crabbe

GlasweJen

You’re better posting in the parking forum. Your relatives should apply for a blue badge, you can’t just park in a bay because you think you qualify, anyone could argue that they qualify. The evidence is the badge and you don’t need to be a driver to apply for a badge.

pogofish

Please get this into the Parking Tickets Subforum in Motoring.

Start by reading the Newbies Sticky carefully to inform yourself properly about the current state of private parking.

Oh and completely ignore DRP - they are powerless muppets. Post four of the Sticky explains fully why.

antrobus

lstiore wrote: »

...

I have been driving my friend and family member always to Queens Hospital in Romford Essex for regular treatments as they are both Disabled requiring space to enter exit and assistance. Unfortunately they don't hold.a blue badge as they don't n drive regularly.

Then you can't park in a disabled bay.

"They" should contact their local council and apply for a blue badge. You can get a blue badge (if you qualify) even if you don't drive at all.

poppy12345

Regardless of all the medical conditions they or you have, you do not have a Blue Badge so you have no right to park in disabled bays or double yellow lines.

As a Blue badge holder myself it infuriates me when i see people parked in those bays that haven't displayed the badge. The amount of times in the past few months that i've had to park further away because of people like you is ridiculous.

I would take antrobus's advice and look into getting a Blue badge. Look on your councils website and see what the criteria is. Each local council has their own criteria.

w06

Although the legal status of a blue badge in a non council car park isn't the same, a blue badge is used by many parking authorities as an indication that the person has been assessed and meets certain criteria meaning that they should be accommodated by being permitted to park in the designated disabled parking bays.

For those of us who have gone through the process of that assessment to gain a blue badge, folk who then just assume they should be allowed to park there without a blue badge are somewhat annoying, especially when they result in us having to give up and go home because there is nowhere accessible to park.

Blue badge eligibility has nothing to do with driving or owning a car, if you want to use the spaces you need to follow the rules.

kingfisherblue

lstiore wrote: »

Dear Forum,

I have been driving my friend and family member always to Queens Hospital in Romford Essex for regular treatments as the y are both Disabled requiring space to enter exit and assistance. Unfortunately they don't hold.a blue badge as they don't n drive regularly. We use the Disabled Bay mostly when no parking is suitable or available. As most appointment are during the morning hours we experienced always a huge amount of traffic with no space or Bays available. In some occasions i was forced to park on double lines (strangely enough then i wasn't fined despite the hospital is fitted with a large number of CCTV.. Parking at Queens is always stressful and time consuming to find a suitable bay with enough space and nearby the entrance as they suffer from mobility and other medical conditions
In the last few months starting from August 2017 i ve received two so called PCN or invoices to Pay.. At first i did ignore those payments request (following online advice), but now the price went up to 160GBP over couple of months!! This last invoice was sent by DRP a Debt Recovery agency in charge of collecting from us. Obviously we don't have the capital to pay for such ridiculous fine from an Hospital (especially now before Xmas)
The only reason for attending is based on set appointments.for treatments or to investigate monitor a number of medical conditions including regular Liver Cancer monitoring Scans and blood culture. Some of the diagnosis are in itself already devastating news but to be also fined unfairly is very upsetting and stressful to such point it makes me shake for fear. I know i shouldn't feel like that as it does not help, but it is a condition of mine i cannot control. The company which issued the fines is Gemini Parking Solutions in charge of Queens Parking As soon i received the PCN i wrote to PALS requesting advice/help as i never had to deal with such matters before which honestly speaking adds to my personal medical condition. Unfortunately i was also diagnosed being subject to anxiety attacks. .
Pals replied to me stating to contact Gemini Parking Solutions. But i feel very vulnerable to write to them as i fear for their reply.. I find this situation very unfair as i wouldn't know what else to do if i couldn't Park where its best suited to our needs. Also generally Parking Spaces are mostly not available and, as everyone knows delays can lead to appointment cancellations something we couldn't afford doing as it would have had an adverse impact to our health We regularly have to attend the hospital appointments (approx 1x monthly) . And to receive two Fines within few months is an incredible abuse. PALS wont even bother helping us despite detailed explaining and listing of our medical condition- we supplied them them also with medical evidence/ letters, something i felt very uncomfortable doing, especially after their "flatlined, unemotional unsympathetic " response.. This is a desperate call for some form of advice -support to resolve this issue. Alternatively for each appointment we could call the ambulance services instead. But we have been simply driving to our appointments in support of the NHS ambulance budgets In the past we were asked to help their service by finding alternative transportation where possible. To drive with our own car was/is our contribution to their call for help.
We did also notice other Blue badge holders being penalized on this day simply for not displaying their badge as they didn't have one but were visibly walking impaired .I wonder why an Hospital wouldn't issue a Parking Code for those with an appointment as it would simplify and avoid upsetting a wide range of people needing access to the hospital. Some people with dear medical needs like us.. A simple solution could be issuing a Code or Ticket sent to every appointee within their appointment letters. And last Paying a charge notice for parking inside the chargeable Hospital Parking building seems equally a very short sighted method to rob innocent drivers. As i explained before, i have been already fined twist (One for outside parking and one inside parking) , but sofar i have received the first notice to Pay 160gbp or face a CCJ. What can i do? Is there any solution to stop Gemini and help us and many others alike from such act of injustice?? Please advice, any comment is welcome. Thank you so much in advance. :o Crabbe

Everyone who needs to attend hospital appointments has the same problem. Perhaps try looking at it from another point of view - think about if your relatives held a Blue Badge, but there were no disabled bays to park in, because of cars that are not displaying the badge parking there. If that was the case, I think you would probably be complaining that people without Blue Badges should be fined for taking up valuable spaces designed for those who have proven evidence that they need the bays.

As a regular at Alder Hey Hospital before it was rebuilt, it was an absolute nightmare trying to find a space to park, even with a Blue Badge. There were times when my FiL drove my son and I there, just so that I could take my son into his appointment and my FiL could drive out of the hospital and find a cafe elsewhere, where he waited for us. Some of my son's appointments lasted the whole afternoon. At other times, I would leave our house considerably earlier than usual to battle the traffic (we don't live in Liverpool, and public transport to the hospital wasn't an option, nor were we offered hospital transport even in the early days when I didn't drive). I always had to leave enough time to find a parking space, which in itself would take up to an hour. If we arrived early enough to get a space without difficulty, the hospital canteen benefited from our custom. For afternoon appointments, we tended to arrive around 12.15-12.30, as there would usually be a few spaces.

Ignoring the rules is not the way to behave, no matter what health conditions someone has. My son was very ill - his first surgeries were at nine hours old, just after he was given four hours to live. Instead of deciding that your relatives should be entitled to use the disabled bays, you should have looked at the options - arrive earlier (before 8.30am?) to secure a parking space, park further away and use public transport or a taxi for the last part of the journey, or consider asking your relative to apply for a Blue Badge even though they don't drive.

Post on the Parking forum for advice about the tickets, but please don't use disabled bays when you are not entitled to do so. It's just plain rude. Other people have proven that they need the bays - what's so special about your relatives that they don't have to offer the same proof?

50Twuncle

lstiore wrote: »

We did also notice other Blue badge holders being penalized on this day simply for not displaying their badge as they didn't have one but were visibly walking impaired

Were these other people Blue badge holders or not ?

sheramber

Is a special car parking space really necessary?

Is there not a drop off section at the entrance where those who are infirm can be dropped off and the driver then go and park the car elsewhere.

When ready to go home the driver can bring the car to the drop off section to pick up the passengers.

cantcope

no wonder i struggle to get a disabled bay at Queens when i go there for regular appointments because I'm disabled!! I end up having to call for assistance from a normal bay in the hospital multi storey because i cant walk that distance into the hospital.
No blue badge no space.

cantcope

sheramber wrote: »

Is a special car parking space really necessary?

Is there not a drop off section at the entrance where those who are infirm can be dropped off and the driver then go and park the car elsewhere.

When ready to go home the driver can bring the car to the drop off section to pick up the passengers.

There isnt a drop off point at this hospital but they could park and then go and get one of the many available wheelchairs to go and get the patient in.