Free blue badge hospital parking in doubt

50Twuncle

It looks as if the government is going to breaki its promise to provide free blue badge parking.........they are definitely going to continue to charge staff and probably blue badge holders as well

https://mol.im/a/8501251#i-27388e9dd596b5c4

Pok3mon

Just because you have a blue badge doesn't make you poor. It is about priority parking not the cost.

Nannytone

I've never understood why people expect disabled parking to be free

Mojisola

If a disabled person goes to hospital on the bus, should they be able to travel for free?

We've been paying for disabled parking spaces at our hospital for decades.

Spoonie_Turtle

Okay, I'll bite.

Pok3mon said:

Just because you have a blue badge doesn't make you poor. It is about priority parking not the cost.

Many disabled people are chronically ill (including with multiple illnesses) and need more frequent hospital appointments. Why should they have to pay to park far more often than their able-bodied, healthy/healthier counterparts, as if being ill and disabled wasn't already expensive enough?
This is only a half argument though, because people needing frequent appointments but who aren't disabled by their illness (or not disabled enough to be eligible for a Blue Badge) obviously should not have to pay the full extortionate charge each time either. The whole system of expensive hospital parking is just awful anyway and seriously needs to be replaced with something much more equitable.

Nannytone said:

I've never understood why people expect disabled parking to be free

If disabled people can't use public transport (which would be free or at least greatly reduced with a disabled pass, because walking or cycling is not an option for them either) why should they have to pay the same as everyone else to park when they had *no choice* but to use their car, and they may well take longer to do whatever it is they're there for as well so end up having to pay even more for parking? (Generally speaking here, not necessarily hospitals - but the point about the car not being a choice is still relevant to hospitals.)
Btw some counties give an extra hour or two free instead of completely free parking, based on the second part of that - usually in places where public transport is widely lacking and using the car is the only option for most people.

elsien

Mojisola said:

If a disabled person goes to hospital on the bus, should they be able to travel for free?

We've been paying for disabled parking spaces at our hospital for decades.

Normally yes with a bus concessionary pass for people with disabilities. Outside of peak travel hours, anyway. 

Pok3mon

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Okay, I'll bite.

Pok3mon said:

Just because you have a blue badge doesn't make you poor. It is about priority parking not the cost.

Many disabled people are chronically ill (including with multiple illnesses) and need more frequent hospital appointments. Why should they have to pay to park far more often than their able-bodied, healthy/healthier counterparts, as if being ill and disabled wasn't already expensive enough?
This is only a half argument though, because people needing frequent appointments but who aren't disabled by their illness (or not disabled enough to be eligible for a Blue Badge) obviously should not have to pay the full extortionate charge each time either. The whole system of expensive hospital parking is just awful anyway and seriously needs to be replaced with something much more equitable.

Nannytone said:

I've never understood why people expect disabled parking to be free

If disabled people can't use public transport (which would be free or at least greatly reduced with a disabled pass, because walking or cycling is not an option for them either) why should they have to pay the same as everyone else to park when they had *no choice* but to use their car, and they may well take longer to do whatever it is they're there for as well so end up having to pay even more for parking? (Generally speaking here, not necessarily hospitals - but the point about the car not being a choice is still relevant to hospitals.)
Btw some counties give an extra hour or two free instead of completely free parking, based on the second part of that - usually in places where public transport is widely lacking and using the car is the only option for most people.

However if pip is claimed is this not what it is for, to cover extra costs of being disabled? Especially the mobility part. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Pok3mon said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Okay, I'll bite.

Pok3mon said:

Just because you have a blue badge doesn't make you poor. It is about priority parking not the cost.

Many disabled people are chronically ill (including with multiple illnesses) and need more frequent hospital appointments. Why should they have to pay to park far more often than their able-bodied, healthy/healthier counterparts, as if being ill and disabled wasn't already expensive enough?
This is only a half argument though, because people needing frequent appointments but who aren't disabled by their illness (or not disabled enough to be eligible for a Blue Badge) obviously should not have to pay the full extortionate charge each time either. The whole system of expensive hospital parking is just awful anyway and seriously needs to be replaced with something much more equitable.

Nannytone said:

I've never understood why people expect disabled parking to be free

If disabled people can't use public transport (which would be free or at least greatly reduced with a disabled pass, because walking or cycling is not an option for them either) why should they have to pay the same as everyone else to park when they had *no choice* but to use their car, and they may well take longer to do whatever it is they're there for as well so end up having to pay even more for parking? (Generally speaking here, not necessarily hospitals - but the point about the car not being a choice is still relevant to hospitals.)
Btw some counties give an extra hour or two free instead of completely free parking, based on the second part of that - usually in places where public transport is widely lacking and using the car is the only option for most people.

However if pip is claimed is this not what it is for, to cover extra costs of being disabled? Especially the mobility part. 

That is indeed the intention. But intention and reality are unfortunately two different things.

Muttleythefrog

Pok3mon said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Okay, I'll bite.

Pok3mon said:

Just because you have a blue badge doesn't make you poor. It is about priority parking not the cost.

Many disabled people are chronically ill (including with multiple illnesses) and need more frequent hospital appointments. Why should they have to pay to park far more often than their able-bodied, healthy/healthier counterparts, as if being ill and disabled wasn't already expensive enough?
This is only a half argument though, because people needing frequent appointments but who aren't disabled by their illness (or not disabled enough to be eligible for a Blue Badge) obviously should not have to pay the full extortionate charge each time either. The whole system of expensive hospital parking is just awful anyway and seriously needs to be replaced with something much more equitable.

Nannytone said:

I've never understood why people expect disabled parking to be free

If disabled people can't use public transport (which would be free or at least greatly reduced with a disabled pass, because walking or cycling is not an option for them either) why should they have to pay the same as everyone else to park when they had *no choice* but to use their car, and they may well take longer to do whatever it is they're there for as well so end up having to pay even more for parking? (Generally speaking here, not necessarily hospitals - but the point about the car not being a choice is still relevant to hospitals.)
Btw some counties give an extra hour or two free instead of completely free parking, based on the second part of that - usually in places where public transport is widely lacking and using the car is the only option for most people.

However if pip is claimed is this not what it is for, to cover extra costs of being disabled? Especially the mobility part. 

Well... PIP is a gesture to the idea there are often extra costs associated with disability... a literal compensation to match the reality is distant and possibly unaffordable which is why in practice disabled people rely on things like free care provided by relatives. Similarly Carer's Allowance.. for simple calculation... about £70 a week (it's less).. for minimum 35 hours caring... less than £2 per hour... in reality for many probably less than £1 per hour... doesn't reflect the true cost of providing care.

Bottom line - PIP in no way is specifically considering the costs associated with hospital parking which disabled people may find on average a greater hit to their family/personal income. Worth adding - patient transport service (PTS) may be good option for many depending on circumstances and is free. My own personal view is private vehicles are a luxury not a basic requirement (except in some extreme cases of people living in the middle of nowhere to which supermarkets won't deliver and telecoms absent) and that as a society we should be discouraging their use including with parking fees for all in all settings including employment (e.g. hospital car parks).

Spoonie_Turtle

Muttleythefrog said:

Pok3mon said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Okay, I'll bite.

Pok3mon said:

Just because you have a blue badge doesn't make you poor. It is about priority parking not the cost.

Many disabled people are chronically ill (including with multiple illnesses) and need more frequent hospital appointments. Why should they have to pay to park far more often than their able-bodied, healthy/healthier counterparts, as if being ill and disabled wasn't already expensive enough?
This is only a half argument though, because people needing frequent appointments but who aren't disabled by their illness (or not disabled enough to be eligible for a Blue Badge) obviously should not have to pay the full extortionate charge each time either. The whole system of expensive hospital parking is just awful anyway and seriously needs to be replaced with something much more equitable.

Nannytone said:

I've never understood why people expect disabled parking to be free

If disabled people can't use public transport (which would be free or at least greatly reduced with a disabled pass, because walking or cycling is not an option for them either) why should they have to pay the same as everyone else to park when they had *no choice* but to use their car, and they may well take longer to do whatever it is they're there for as well so end up having to pay even more for parking? (Generally speaking here, not necessarily hospitals - but the point about the car not being a choice is still relevant to hospitals.)
Btw some counties give an extra hour or two free instead of completely free parking, based on the second part of that - usually in places where public transport is widely lacking and using the car is the only option for most people.

However if pip is claimed is this not what it is for, to cover extra costs of being disabled? Especially the mobility part. 

Well... PIP is a gesture to the idea there are often extra costs associated with disability... a literal compensation to match the reality is distant and possibly unaffordable which is why in practice disabled people rely on things like free care provided by relatives. Similarly Carer's Allowance.. for simple calculation... about £70 a week (it's less).. for minimum 35 hours caring... less than £2 per hour... in reality for many probably less than £1 per hour... doesn't reflect the true cost of providing care.

Bottom line - PIP in no way is specifically considering the costs associated with hospital parking which disabled people may find on average a greater hit to their family/personal income. Worth adding - patient transport service (PTS) may be good option for many depending on circumstances and is free. My own personal view is private vehicles are a luxury not a basic requirement (except in some extreme cases of people living in the middle of nowhere to which supermarkets won't deliver and telecoms absent) and that as a society we should be discouraging their use including with parking fees for all in all settings including employment (e.g. hospital car parks).

Well, we live near two inaccessible train stations on a main commuter line which runs through London, near a motorway junction, yet for transport purposes we live in the middle of nowhere. Our one bus a week goes to the small Tesco on a Saturday and departs an hour after it gets there, which is of course ample time to do a weekly shop for the entire family on the busiest shipping day of the week and pay for it and get back on the bus ... (!) That bus doesn't carry wheelchairs anyway, and neither does the Dial-a-ride which requires 48 hours' notice. Our nearest accessible train stations are an hour's drive away (by which time we could already have driven into London, if that's where we were going, rather than needing almost another hour to take the accessible route to our destination - which it not needing accessible stations, would literally take half the time).

Remarkably we do have fibre broadband and decent phone signal in our tiny village, but our transport options for, y'know, trying to live some kind of a life are private car or taxi. Even the village footpath doesn't start until the end of our neighbour's front path, but it's overgrown for the first several metres so whilst fine on foot it's extremely difficult to traverse in a wheelchair. (It then ends outside the sheep field the other end of the village, after which it's just country road verges with drainage ditches.)

More effective at discouraging private car use would be providing options people can actually use, otherwise raising costs is just penalising those who have no choice. Those who have no choice include shift workers (very much including those who work in hospitals) whose shift timings make using public transport impossible.

But, I completely agree with your points about PIP and CA.

unforeseen

Many disabled people are chronically ill (including with multiple illnesses) and need more frequent hospital appointments. Why should they have to pay to park far more often than their able-bodied, healthy/healthier counterparts, as if being ill and disabled wasn't already expensive enough?

What do you class as more frequent? 
I'm not disabled but I attended hospital 37 times last year, having to pay to park each time. This year is on course for being similar. I have no condition that gives me a parking concession.