nhs car park fees in wales.

jamescredmond

as we're no longer patients these days and more like consumers I have chosen this board to post - if I'm wrong I'm sure someone will tell me.

welsh assembly announcement this a.m.

parking fees at nhs trust hospitals operated by the trusts themselves will be removed on Apr.1

at hospitals where the parking facilities are contracted out: charges reduced until contracts expire, whereby charges cease.

immediately some trusts are bleating about loss of revenue. given that nhs funding has doubled in real terms over the past 10 years, not many people will feel inclined to sympathise. even staff are expected to pay (albeit at a reduced rate).

I'm not sure if this will prove such a good idea in some areas. my local hosp. is in a central location, so the nhs car park will come in useful for shoppers/commuters who wish to avoid the high charges levied by our council for use of town centre parking.

maninthestreet

jamescredmond wrote: »

as we're no longer patients these days and more like consumers I have chosen this board to post - if I'm wrong I'm sure someone will tell me.

welsh assembly announcement this a.m.

parking fees at nhs trust hospitals operated by the trusts themselves will be removed on Apr.1

at hospitals where the parking facilities are contracted out: charges reduced until contracts expire, whereby charges cease.

immediately some trusts are bleating about loss of revenue. given that nhs funding has doubled in real terms over the past 10 years, not many people will feel inclined to sympathise. even staff are expected to pay (albeit at a reduced rate).

I'm not sure if this will prove such a good idea in some areas. my local hosp. is in a central location, so the nhs car park will come in useful for shoppers/commuters who wish to avoid the high charges levied by our council for use of town centre parking.

No doubt any shortfall in revenue will be made up by taxes, paid for the most part, by English taxpayers.

mountainofdebt

Personally I think this is a ruddy good idea.

As for people abusing the system then all you need do is to issue patients with some sort of pass, issued by the relevant clinic, which can be exchanged for a token to get you out of the car park.

custardy

up here its limited to (IIRC) £7 per day though at the ERI parents of neonatal care babies get a further reduced rate.
perhaps other longer term care depts offer the same.
TBH i dont see a problem with a limited amount for parking

fedupconsumer

surely this should be moved to the wales board ?

about time in my view it penalises the poor if the NHS trusts want to moan then get the executives to take a pay cut they always seem to give themselves a pay rise and then they dont meet their targets.

custardy

just to add,it always seems good for charges to be written off.
however in Scotland we have had a coucil tax freeze which is being funded by massive cuts in local services.
not what i would call a good move

dementedhousewife

I Think charging for parking at hospitals is digusting..
My twins were born at Slough Hospital.... And they were in the unit for 2mths
they tried to charge me £10 per day to visit them..
I had one hell of an argument with the carpark security...
In the end they let me park for free....
We all pay enough in taxes!!!

bubbles0169

i new somebody who was in labour at hospital and OH had to run to car park to top up metre at 12am because he would have been fined also my grandfather visited my v poorly gran every day for two months whilst she was in hosp that was at £2 a day people like this should get consessioned i think its ok for people who dont go that often or people who dont actually go to the hospital to be charged parking because they do bring in much needed revenue as someone said it will be made up from taxes else

peter_the_piper

Our local mob even charge their own staff for the "privelage" of working there.

dizzie

I agree that it is wholly unethical to raise revenue in this way.

What if you are attending A&E or an outpatient appointment? Firstly, you don't know how long you'll be kept waiting...the doctor might even get called away on an emergency and having waited for an hour or more, you may then find a routine outpatient appointment postponed to a later date (This happened to us when I had to take my son to one of the Leeds Hospitals following surgery)! But all the while you have to keep a track on the time and keep making visits to feed the bloomin' car park meter!

The issue of car park charges is also an issue for those who want to visit friends or relatives in hospital too.

I believe that hospitals/trusts who charge in this way are exploiting vulnerable people. However, no surprise on the Government's stance in England. Scotland and Wales are also abandoning/have abandoned prescription charges (another unfair tax on those who are ill), but we still have them in England!

I was reading an article about the Brain Drain in England - about how many people are emigrating...and frankly I'm not in the least bit surprised!

jamescredmond

maninthestreet wrote: »

No doubt any shortfall in revenue will be made up by taxes, paid for the most part, by English taxpayers.

correct (I think).
I'm just hoping, in some ways, that this is the beginning of the end for an nhs rip-off. I don't want to be stiffed by my local nhs trust for parking for an hour to visit my sick father. aren't we paying enough viz. taxation?
if they asked me to make a vol. contrib. I'd prob. pay more- because I believe in an nhs.


I draw the line, though, at a barked instruction to pay Ott because the nhs trust is struggling for cash.

btw, why are nhs trusts skint, given the loads 'invested over the past 10 yrs?