Should we pay to park at a hospital?
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions
Should you have to pay to park at a hospital? Hospitals in Scotland and Wales are scrapping their charges - so is it right that in England, patients, visitors and even doctors and nurses will still have to fork out?
We compared prices at various English hospitals and found charges ranging from £2 a day to £3 an hour - and those hourly charges can quickly add up. So are they justified? The Welsh and Scottish authorities say no - but the NHS in England doesn't agree. They maintain scrapping charges would mean they'd have to find money to maintain the car parks from elsewhere - effectively meaning other vital NHS budgets would have to be cut. But what do you think? Do you agree with the charges? Or should England fall in line with the rest of the UK?
Watch more videos in our report on hospital parking.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~48~RS~)
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.
I feel strongly that hospital parking should be abolished.
I sat with my mother for three days in 2003 while she was seriously ill in Hospital. It cost me a fortune in Parking charges.
She died when I left her for a few minutes, as I had to feed the meter. I had so much wanted to be by her side at the End.
Complain about this comment
Hospital Parking charges are a diabolical liberty.
Whilst my late wife was ill, between 1998 and 2004, it cost me an absolute fortune in parking charges. I did not think to keep a record of the totals but it must have run into hundreds of pounds.
One instance was her admission for surgery at one hospital. When we learned that her stay was possibly going to be two weeks or more, I was persuaded to take up the offer of discounted parking by paying in advance for a month. She was discharged on the third day. There was no refund despite my requests.
Yes, hospital parking charges should be abolished.
Complain about this comment
Hospital car parks cost money to run so it is useful to have additional income for our overstretched NHS. Some people also abuse car parks if free. At Wythenshawe Manchester the car park was used as 'free' parking for the airport so charges had to be introduced. There ought to be some form of 'swipe' facility for use in emergencies or for regular treatment visits so parking charges may be waived or reduced.
Complain about this comment
I live in Stafford and the main hospital is fairly close to the town centre. They didn't used to charge for parking but they have for the last few years. The main reason seemed to be, that commuters to our pretty much dormitory town, were parking up to 4 vehicles for free at the hospital, literally filling the car park;then using one car to get to town, thereby only paying for one parking space,but why can't they reimburse genuine hospital users?
Complain about this comment
I am a tax payer who has always paid taxes without complaint (well not too much complaint anyway!). I have feel strongly that NHS car parking fees are nothing short of a stealth tax on sick, and their families. I can't think of anything more crass than to levvy a charge on visiting a sick family member. Thankfully I am able to afford to pay these charges but many people can't. It is indicative of the changed mindset of this country - away from the needs of the patient to squeezing the very last penny out of commercial greed. NHS - a free service to all at the point of need. NHS car park fees - free tax/income point of collection at the point of health care.
Complain about this comment
I feel that something needs to be done about this issue and it can cost people lots of money when they become very ill and have to stop working leaving a lack of finances.
I developed a chronic illness that took a while to diagnose at first and affected various parts of my body. This meant going to hospital departments frequently and having many blood tests and x-rays/scans. I made frequent visits to ENT, Eye, Neurology, and Rheumatology outpatient clinics waking long hours to been seen while my partner waited for me and then had to pay high parking fees.
As I did not claim any benefits I was not entitled to claim these expenses back.
Complain about this comment
I disagree with hospitals charging for parking. I had to go for some very stressful tests in the summer and the last thing I needed was to have to worry about whether I had change to pay for parking. But if it has to be paid for, the same as prescription charges, if the NHS is a national institution then the whole country pays for it. It is absolutely outrageous that certain sections of the population i.e. the English, are subsidising these things for the rest. If it were the other way around there would no doubt be a shout of racism!
Complain about this comment
I cant see anything wrong with parking charges in town centre hospitals. There are a limited number of spaces which need to be built and maintained. As a visitor to the hospital I can choose to pay for the convenience of parking there or park elsewhere and walk in.
I agree there needs to be a system which allows regular out-patients to be recompensed or exempted from the cost but most problems are caused by visiting hours not being staggered and with staff hogging the spaces. Few workplaces give staff a free or subsidised parking space nowadays.
Look at how empty supermarket car parks are on all but saturday afternoons; stagger visiting hours and most of the problems will disappear.
Complain about this comment
Hospital parking should be free for all patients, both in and out-patients, and for medical and direct support staff. Managers and adminisitrators should pay a going rate (compared to local car parking charges. Visitors should pay a fixed charge as in Shrewsbury, except when engaged in long-term visiting when a reduced rate should apply.
Complain about this comment
I am a medical student at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire, and find myself severly penalised by parking charges at the hospital, especially as I don't have a salary yet. But I think the most unreasonable thing about the charges at the hospital is that the minimum parking available is 4 hours, even though visiting hours are only 2 hours long!
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
North Hampshire Hospital.
Wife's Labour had to be induced.
After starting the procedure, then delaying for 5 days, followed by 20 hours of labour, I had to pay £5 per day, for the priveledge.
I didn't have this change to hand, at a time when I had enough to worry about.
Scrap the charges
Complain about this comment
I think hospital car park prices are terrible. I visited walsgrave hospital in coventry for a blood test this week but never waited as it was too busy. I was only in the car park for 6 minutes and was charged £3!!!
Complain about this comment
I appreciate that car parking costs money, however to apply the inflated charges that are in use is very wrong. My local hospital in Middlesbrough changed from a system where you paid a set fee for a full days parking to an hourly rate which is absolutely excessive. I went to A&E the other week but couldn't wait for my x-ray results because parking cost me too much! It is not like this car park would be abused as it is not in an industrial area, therefore only limited users would benefit. The only people currently benefitting are the local council who run the facility!
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
It wouldn't be so bad if the hospital parking charges went back into the hospital. I don't think many people would object to new scanners or other equipment being the result of high parking charges. Private car park firms getting rich on us is outrageous.
Complain about this comment
Our son was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in March 2008 - we now need to visit 2 hospitals frequently, one in Pembury and one in London frequently for Physiotherapy, check-ups etc - the news was devastating for us as a family and then we were having to pay parking charges for a free NHS service?? Luckily we have been accepted for a Disability badge and now do not have to pay but I do feel for those who are supporting family members with cancer or the like and having to pay to visit - It is a complete travesty of free life and none of us ask to be faced with a loved one in a dire health situation.
Complain about this comment
I am a service engineer and travel to many hospitals - the most expensive one I have found so far is Southampton at £20 for the day!
Complain about this comment
Having read all of the posts I am moved to ask the following question
Is there not a bus service to the hospitals being talked about?
In the last 10 years I have lived in 14 cities and all of the hospitals were served by bus routes.
Complain about this comment
I feely strongly against paying for car park fees at my local hosptial when anyone visiting my local prison gets to park for free!!!
Complain about this comment
I think that hospital car park charges are simply taking advantage of peoples misfortunes and are therefore disgusting.
Complain about this comment
I don't agree with charging hospital users for using there parking facilities. Fair enough people do abuse these parking facilities and they should be charged. They should create a system where when the hospital user pays for parking, they can rip off another part of the ticket which they can pop into a machine in a hospital ward and have a full refund on the money that they have paid for parking.
Complain about this comment
I think high hospital parking charges are immoral. I had to drive my son to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford last Friday to the A & E for a suspected broken hand. Firstly I had to leave him alone to run to the canteen to get change for the machine - a shocking £2.50 per hour!! I then had to leave him again to feed more money (all I had incidently) into the machine meaning I missed him being called and had to argue for another slot when I returned. Why the charges? The hospital is not near any shopping areas or station - no-one who is not ill, visiting or staff needs to park there?
Complain about this comment
I lost my son June 2008 as he was a stillborn I had to let everyone know that I had had him. They all can and complaned about tha there was no parking spaces. My friend parked down the road as near to the hospital as she could but she got a ticket as she was parked in the wrong space but there was now where else to park and my son was not going to be with us long as he was going to the morge. So I do agree with the prices but more spaces but then I do think the prices are too high. This is as your not sire how long you are going to be there for.
Stephanie Burrows
The hospital is Hillingdon
Complain about this comment
I work in Ninewells hospital Dundee and our car parking charges have not been scraped because the car parks are run by a private company i work full time and it costs me £25.oo a month to go to work and the daily fee is going up on 1st november. This is just to park the take no responsility for loss or damage so what are we paying for nothing.
Complain about this comment
It is not true that all hospitals in Scotland are discontinueing the parking charges, the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary still charges and will continue to charge, (extremely high parking charges) as the hospital still has to pay its way due to PFI funding of the hospital.
Carole Scott [Hi Carole, thought you might like to know that Edinburgh Royal Infirmary say their parking will be free from January 1st 2009. Regards Eddie, Watchdog web team]
Complain about this comment
It always annoys me at Doncaster Royal Infirmary when I see the sign "have you paid and displayed" The same question always comes to mind. What if I was rushing one of my children into A&E not wanting to wait for an ambulance and then needing to use there carpark, would I stop and think oh must go over to the pay machine. I very much doubt it. The car park doesn't appear to be staffed so who is there to pay for it's use ? I doubt anyone uses it for town parking as there is ample in the town centre, so that shouldn't be a problem. C'mon abolish these charges.
Complain about this comment
My husband has been in and out of hospital for the last 6 months, more in than out. At the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, visiting hours are 2.0pm to 5.30 and 6.30 to 8.0 pm at £2.40 for 2 hours - so work that out!! but to add insult to injury, disabled parking, of which about one third of the second floor of the multi-storey car park is, they get free parking. Does that seem fair - just because you are disabled, does that mean you can't afford to pay. I don't mind paying a reasonable sum but I think the foregoing is very unfair.
Complain about this comment
I agree that that hospital car parking fees should be abolished - however the comments on Watchdog re Scotland having already done so is not strictly true - there are at least 2 Hospitals I know of that still charge - Glasgow Royal Infirmary as the car park was build under PFI (private funding) and Southern General - for what ever reason I dont know - NO ONE should have to pay for parking at a hospital to either receive treatment or visit someone who is receiving treatment
Complain about this comment
Never had to use an English Hospital Car Park, since charges were levied.
But this year I had to go to Wrexham Mealor Hospital to visit, as we know there are No parking charges in Wales, but there is a £70 charge if you don't display your Free 2 hr parking limit ticket from the many machines there ie. Visiting hours, eg.3 to 4pm usually. I was told, but not from the hospital staff, this is to prevent 'Shoppers' and 'Business users' from parking all day! The walk to the Supermarket is quite a distance away and much further to the City centre, you would need a bus there. Come on England follow suit.
Complain about this comment
I totally disagree with parking charges at hospitals. It is not by choice that people attend hospital, either as a patient or a visitor. It is especially upsetting when visiting dying relatives in hospital. There are other ways to generate income, instead of making the vulnerable pay.
Complain about this comment
Last week I had to take my 87 year old mother for x-ray investigations and even with Disabled Badges we had to pay the same charges of over £4. for around three hours. I think if you are there to receive treatments that they know will keep you for over the minimum payment stage they shouild waive these charges. I have to take her for the same again this week and who knows how many more times.
Complain about this comment
I attend a local hospital in swansea were charges have been scrapped. I now wish they would re introduce them as parking has gone from bad to worse since this has happened.
BY 8.30am you CANNOT park in the patient car park's as the staff now use these as its closer for them. Trouble is we cannot park in theirs as there are barriers stopping us!!!
I have emailed the NHS and the Health Miniter at the Welsh Assembly with my concerns. The Health Minister has answered to say that the Hospital is aware and monitoring the situation. What a lie as 8 wks after I had received the reply the situation is as bad as ever.
FREE parking, bring back charges
Linda Madge
20:21 13/10/08
Complain about this comment
My little boy was rushed to hospital because when he was born with a couple of problems. He was there for 3 days so i had to pay to stay with my baby. Then i got a phone call saying he has to go to oxford so i rushed to the hospital and parked the car for no longer than 5mins and i got a ticket. I rushed to make sure my baby was ok and i forgot to pick some money up, so i didnt have any money on me. So for a worrying mother i got charged £70 but where i paid it with in 2 weeks it was £35. i dont think you should pay at the end of the day your there to see people who are ill. So why should you have to pay to see family and friends.
Complain about this comment
I have attended The West Middlesex Hospital for the last 11 years, and in the past few years had to pay for parking. I have a Blue badge, but still have to pay for parking. Today my appointment was for 11.45am....but was runnng 45 minutes late, hey presto....more money for the car park charges. I am on disability allowance like so many others out there. Give us a break !!!!
Complain about this comment
I have a daughter who has chronic uveitis and chronic juvenile arthritis. Basically this involves lots of trips to Birmingham Childrens Hospital. Because of its location and limited parking spaces, invariably you have to park on the road.
This is run by the local council and the maximum you can park is two hours for £4. As a result of this, if the visit is over two hours - which invariably it is, you have to either leave your child or take him/her with you to reknew the parking ticket. At this stage, you know you will miss your appt slot as it takes around 20 mins to walk too and from the on road parking.
This is so frustrating, especially if you have a child with a disablement. However to add insult to injury I have been told of so many people who are just a few minutes late who get tickets. The wardens must love it!! They are constantly outside of the hospital checking tickets, easy pickings in my opinion, targetting the most desperate and vulnerable.
Complain about this comment
hi i live in derby and at the old dri hospital disabled parking is free, but at the new royal derbyshire they charge full rates. this is totaly unfair [Watchdog note: Derby Hospital NHS Trust say they have a blend of free and paid for spaces at both hospitals. Regards, Eddie, Watchdog web team]
Complain about this comment
i live next to the alex hospital in redditch and rather than pay charges many people park in our close and on the road leading to our close, which makes it difficult and dangerous when residents drive out as we are on a road that is on a hill and a bend making visibility difficult.
Complain about this comment
As a hospital worker I have a monthly amount deducted from my pay at source. That is I have to pay to go to work. This does not guarantee me a space.
If I have to pay to go to work to treat and diagnose patients, patients should have to pay. However I think the rates should be reasonable. £2.00 per 4 hours max. The reason patients get upset is that the rates are extortionate.
The purpose of the charges is to make public transport the better option. The green option.
Complain about this comment
Where's the problem? If hospital parking is free, or cheap, commuters fill the car parks - hence genuine visitors have no chance (except at weekends - and I know that from experience at a maternity unit)! Equally if it's phenominally expensive genuine patients or visitors may not be able to afford the price. So... the machine gives you a ticket. If you are a true patient or visitor you redeem the ticket for free (or just a nominal charge). If you're just using the carpark for the day while you're at work you redeem the ticket for some stupidly astronomical fee!! As a fund raiser only certain parts of the car park could be subject to this!
Complain about this comment
It may come as a surprise to the Government but hospitals are for people who are unwell. These are not car parks for a fitness centre!
Shockingly, with an ageing population there is a problem,elderly people get ill as do our growing ranks of the clinically obese.
Elderly people tend to be somewhat impoverished and the obese seem to predominate amongst those on social benefits. Without having to run through the basic rules of logic it would be immediately apparent that these people tend to be amongst the poorest elements of our society. Why are we crippling the finances of those who are experiencing health problems? Tax the poor after all that's what we used to do in the past which is where it should be consigned to. Scrap them!
Complain about this comment
Although I live in Wales and therefore do not have to pay hospital car park charges, I stongly believe that it would be better if charges were made. The NHS can not afford to pay for many drugs that are life saving,and the money would be better used there than on subsidising car parking .
Complain about this comment
Why does every news program insist on saying that parking is free in Wales, well its not free, Following is a selection of main Hospitals who do charge Haverford West, Carmarthen, Llanelli, Bridgend, Cardiff all charge for parking and yet we the English keep on saying its free, WHY, the government do not give anything away this is just a way of aggrivating everybody, News programs please check out your information before you comment on issues close to the pocket.
Complain about this comment
Recently I spent four or five hours per day at my mother's bedside at Darent Valley Hospital in Kent. Car parking was £1 per hour and over the two weeks, the costs mounted. I could have bought a weekly ticket for £20 but unfortunately I was waiting day by day for news of her discharge. I did nt anticipate the length of her stay. Now, IF the hospital was charging to avoid non patients/visitors etc taking up valuable space, I MIGHT feel there is some justification for the hospital charges, BUT Darent Valley is out in the middle of nowhere! NO-ONE would park there for any other reason than using the hospital. It is a straightforward money maker! The salt in the wound was getting charged an extra pound as the queue for the one working payment machine, was so long, it took me over into the next hour by one minute!
Complain about this comment
Car parking should be regulated to allow bona fide patients and visitors to same to park free. This would get over the problems of non-users of the hospital from using the facilities for shopping etc. Surely a satisfactory way of regulating car parking in this manner is not beyond the ability of hospital administrators.
Complain about this comment
At our Hospital (Royal Sussex) disabled parking used to be free but now we have to pay the full charges for our frequent visits due to my wifes illnesses. She is unable to travel by public transport so we have no choice but to use the car. In addition on querying this with a car park attendent the first time he referred to us as "you people want everything" we should have made a formal complaint at the time but typically disnt.
Complain about this comment
January 2nd this year,
04.45 my wife had a heart-attack,i rushed her to our hospital,she was admitted, i left her bedside at 01.am the next morning and after paying £12 for the time i was there i left to return the next morning with a pocket full of machine payments.
My moan is-
We were there because my wife nearly died, i was there for my wife,we only have each other and now we had the extra worry of paying the local council their blood money,we were not there for fun,were both stressed as it was and then when i left the hospital i found a Traffic warden hovering near my car,i was not very happy. My wife was in for 15 days in the Cardiac care unit and i forged out about £40.00.
In Febuary she had another heart attack and was in for 10 days.
We don't see the justification of the high charges that the council impose on the grieving,the patients and their families, Fine whach their parking tarriffs on parking everywhere else but leav us all alone as far as hospitals are concerned.
The people who saved my wife's life had to pay for working at the hospital where they saved my wife,what a disgrace this town has fallen to.
The money doesn't go to the hospital,no it goes to the council.
Say no more.
Complain about this comment
I think its disgusting aswell, i know this won't change much but if you had an appointment for yourself (not visiting) if you recieve child tax credits (some other benefits may apply) you can get your carparking charge refunded.
Complain about this comment
At Epsom Hospital they even charge the community midwives who must use their cars to do their work in the community, to park their cars. This includes an annual admin fee and daily charges if the 2 hour bays of which there are not enough, are full. Perhaps London Transport should charge the bus drivers to park their buses at the garage overnight!
Complain about this comment
I work at my local hospital the parking fees are quite steep, but what gets me is when they clamp cars and ask for fix fee of £35.00. I have even seen them clamp a car which was equipped for a disabled child. The trouble is ever time they do building work they use the disabled bays for this.
Complain about this comment
I am disabled, on high rate mobilty allowance which the government provides to subsidise my transport because I am unable to walk. What then gives the NHS, a government department, the right to take some of this money off me evry time I have to visit the hospital. They are effectively changing the amount of the mobilty allowance, penalising the most sick the hardest. Hypocracy at its worst.
Complain about this comment
After your prog tonight, you stated that carparking in wales was free I can tell you that this is not the case in south wales in the princess of wales hospital in bridgend car parking is 1 pound per visit, in prince phillip hospital in Llanelli car parking charge is 1.50 per 2 hrs, and in west wales hospital Carmarthen parking is 1.50 per 2hrs.
regards
oscartrix.
mike,
Complain about this comment
I really think people should stop and think before they condemn hospitals most are within a bus ride for most people the priority should only be for patients or staff they are jampacked with visitors who are too lazy to walk for five minutes
Complain about this comment
our son who is four was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour last december (craniopharyngioma) we have had a very difficult time dealing with this, petrol costs alone has cost us over £2000 since december and car park fees are on top , as he has had x2 ops and radiotherapy we visit the christes hospital and pendlebury hosptal and the eye hospital all in manchester along with our own local ones in order to control and manage his tumour. we have to visit every month on certain dates , and this will be ongoing for the rest of his life . our fees to park are different for all hospitals but average at £3 for a few hours , we have readdressed our life style in order to combat these extra charges that we will pay now and in the future. many parents and patients are in this situation and simply can not or struggle to deal with the extra financial burden. we have a strong family network that is essencial , but not all do. so i say to those who complain about visiting once or twice a year to any hospital, think how hard it is for familes like mine.
the most important thing to ourselves is the well being of our sons , so this financial factor is at the back of our brain. however i thought it prudent to comment ,so as to add strength to making a fairer way for poorly patients and families slightly easier with these added charges ,
best of luck
M Hill
Complain about this comment
The ethos of the NHS is care free at the point of delivery.
By levying car park charges care is no longer free at the point of delivery.
I wonder how trusts that charge for car parking reconcile themselves with that.
Also employees who work for the NHS are being charged for the pleasure of working due to the levying of car park charges.
Where does all the money from car parks go to?
Complain about this comment
how about starting a scheme where patiants and visitors to the hospital go to reception and get a ticket to park free there by stopping commuters and others not using the hospital parking
Complain about this comment
I was told that my brother had been admitted to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, knowing that he was suffering from cancer I was fearful that I would not arrive on time.
After many minutes of trying to find a parking space I was faced with finding the right money for parking. after searching through the car I managed to find enough to pay. The first machine had an out of order sign on it. found another and then I was faced with having to type in my registration number.
In my grief I had no idea so I had to go back to the car to find out.
Is this anyway to treat a relative.
I don't think so
Complain about this comment
I work at a hospital and the parking is pathetic. I have to travel 15 miles each way and I now have no choice but to travel by motor cycle because I can not afford to pay for the petrol in the car (this being around £10 per week more than the bike) and the £40 to £50 per month parking fees where as I can park the bike for free.
Two main gripes. One,I've never seen an exeq togging up into the winter gear ready for the ride home, and two the council have made most of the on street parking that was available into residants only within a two mile radius of the hospital even though 90% of the buildings involved are hospital property, This I suspect is to make money on parking meters and fines. The trust, just like anyone else had the oppertunity to object to the planned parking plans but didn't, why I wonder.The council, I believe are now planning to widen the 2 mile radius.
WHY should I have to pay to park for work and why did my trust, who have the workers in mind, not object to the councils plans on parking which made a bad situation worse.
Complain about this comment
I can't believe people are so tight fisted! The wonderful value provided by the NHS has got to be worth a few measly pounds on car parking. Think of the overall value, if you are not happy with paying for parking use public transport-see how much that costs!
Complain about this comment
I think there should be a small charge of £1.00 for a whole days parking to help raise funds for hospitals. This should be done whereby your registration number is typed on the ticket at the machines to avoid transfer. Those that are with knowledge of long stays should be offered a long term ticket at a capped rate of £10.00. I think this would be both profitable and affordable. I do believe that any profit gets injected into the hospital for patient care.
Complain about this comment
I think to have to visit a Hospital under any circumstances is bad enough but to have to pay to park whilst you are there is an absolute disgrace. My Son had an accident when he was 16 months old (he is now nearly 15 years old) It was the worst time of my life and to have to think about change for parking meters was the last thing on my mind, it was my childs life. The Hospitals that I have visited, are always full and to find a space to park can be a mammoth task in itself, paying to park should be SCRAPPED.
Complain about this comment
At least some hospitals has free parking for disabled. John Radcliffe in Oxford make disabled pay for parking
Complain about this comment
Hospital car park fees should be abolished. I recently was paying up to £7.50 a day to visit my parents in two different hospitals.
One hospital in Luton is 2.50 per visit , the other in Stevenage was £2.50 for up to four hours.
This is not a stealth tax because it is obvious and visible.
I am fortunate that I could afford to pay but what about those on fixed incomes??
Complain about this comment
IN YOUR REPORT ON HOSPITAL CAR PARK CHARGES IN WALES IM SORRY TO SAY THAT WE STILL PAY FOR PARKING ,AND WILL DO SO FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS UNTILL THE CONTRACTS HAVE RUN OUT AND ONLY THEN WILL WE HAVE FREE PARKING. FOR YOUR RECORDS ROYAL GLAMORGAN HOSPITAL AND THE HEATH HOSPITAL ARE BUT TWO THAT STILL CHARGE .I HAVE PAID IN BOTH OF THESE HOSPITALS IN THE LAST MONTH
Complain about this comment
I thing its wrong that we pay for parking when visiting family and friends in hospital were not there to go shopping were there for very important reason and theres nothing more stressfull to be visiting pooly or dying friends or family to worry or evern thing about how much the parkings going to cost..come on thats not right .(claire lye portchester hants )
Complain about this comment
I live with my wife of 65, I am 72. We make frequent trips to a hospital 15 miles away for treatment. We are compelled to go by car, there is no public transport where we live.Although parking charges at the hospital are just one pound per hour, we have to pay for two hours minimum.
Pensioners in urban areas at the very least get free public transport to and from hospitals.
Complain about this comment
I recently had occasion to use parts of Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow. I had NHS and Private treatment. In NHS I had to pay for parking but in the Private operation they gave me a token to get my car out. Surely it is not beyond the wit of the NHS bosses to invent something similar for patients There is also an excellent bus service right to the door for those who can/want to use it.
Complain about this comment
i think paying for parking terrible, its a degrace i think that rule should be ablioshed
Complain about this comment
Hospital Parking fee's are a bad idea for all but rare visitors as it can prove very expensive and distressing. If the Hospitals wish to ensure that only valid visitors and patients use the car park, they should issue a parking pass/ticket upon arrival (On production of an appointment slip etc) and impose large fines on car's who do not show one. If they require revenue to support policeing of this then apply for funding from the Govt or at worst, charge a nominal daily fee (£1 for example)for those who meet the criteria above. For more regular visitors such as Cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy, a longer term pass would need to be issued, with a small fee where appropriate. Most people don't mind payng a small contribution but can do without having to clock watch and leave there loved ones's on their own at difficult and upsetting times to feed a meter to avoid a fine.
Complain about this comment
Our local hospital in Barnsley charges for car parking and is not too expensive. I recently had to vist the hospital with my 20mth old dayghter and ended up being dropped off while my husband tried to find parking through the lack of space. although i do agree with other's that you dont choose to go to hospital you go because you have to and in ongoing cases their should be some type of free parking system moderated by hospital issued passes just an idea but maybe the right person will read this and take it forward.
Complain about this comment
my daughter suffered a severe stroke three months ago,the current hospital charges are £3.00 for the first two hours ,£ four pounds after that and so on up per hour.
but cheshire hospital trust in there magnamity lets us buy a long term illness ticket for £10.00 a week, so as you can see up till now it has cost me, a pensioner £140.00.
the medical staff have told me that until my daughter has mobility she will not be discharged,
and up till now can see no improvment for several months to come.
so as you can guess i am totally against hospital parking charges
Complain about this comment
barnet hospital has a charge of £4.00. If you spend 1 minute to all day it is still £4.00.
I have prostate cancerand will shortly recive treatment. You cannot find a parking place at barnet and have to wait till some one leave. For the price of £4.00 I would expect to drive and park without any hassel. I have had 5 visits so far at at total cost of £20.00.
if I have radiotherapy I will need to for 5days for 4 weeks which will cost £80.00 or if I have an operation then 1 day to drop me off, another to pick me up. Vistors would have to pay £4.00 per visit plus after care visits. Who said the NHS is free.
There are no special deals for the sick.
Is it fair that a visitor should pay £4.00 for an Hours visit.
If you visit barnet why give or sell your car parking ticket to some one just arriving when you leave. Lets get back at barnet.
When you go for treatment you may be booked in for 10.00am but you will not be seen till 12.00 pm is it fair that you not only have to wait but pay car parking charges?
Complain about this comment
Our local hospital the only one in this area still charges for you to park your car because this was privately built a few years ago the other local hospitals are free.
Complain about this comment
consider this.is the nhs free at the piont of use...does the piont of use start at the entrance to the car park.at reception not only do you give your details but your reg number ...yes.abolish the nhs parking charges and work out a method to stop abusers of the facility
Complain about this comment
Having to pay at the hospital is disgusting, it's another way of scamming more money out of the ordinary working person
I've got an operation in December and have been told that the parking will cost around £15, very rarely do we carry cash around with us.
If parking is near a town centre, then other methods should be introduced to stop people from abusing it. i.e a stamp, if the ticket has not been stamped then yes charge them otherwise it should be free
Complain about this comment
In reply to feedback user 19 ovverbruv
Why would any parent transport their sick child on a bus ?
Our trip by car takes over a hour via motorway .
As a caring parent i feel that time is very valuable .
I suggest you think before you type
Complain about this comment
Many of the staff that worked at Oldchurch hospital in Romford were told, that after moving into the new state of the art Queen's hospital across the road they would only be alloud to park in the hospital car park if they lived more than three miles away. then the crunch came. We were told that everybody including staff would have to pay to park. Even parking in the ajacent Ice Rink NHS workers would have to pay. This was outragous and a partition was taken by the workers. The trust then gave us back free staff parking at the local Rugby club. However only after a lot of negotiating did the trust replace the free minibus service to and from the Rugby club. I feel it is outragous that Hospitals should alow outside bodies to come in and run /charge for hospital parking.
Complain about this comment
I do not like paying for hospital parking but accept that it is just another form of NHS income paid by users of the service (in the same way as, say, prescriptions). What I really object to is pay-and-display.
Pay-and-display means two things. Firstly, you must have the right change. Secondly, you have to pay for far more than you are likely to need, because you have no idea whether you will be 10 minutes or several hours. Furthermore, the tickets are not legally transferable, so you might have two or three hours left on your ticket, but the person who takes your space when you leave has to pay all over again, so two or potentially more people are paying for the same space concurrently! How can that possibly be fair?
They want it all ways.
The charges should be nominal and paid on exit. OK, switching to pay-on-exit would take time and money, but it would take no time at all to make the tickets transferable. Why not start with that?
Complain about this comment
LOL - you really are missing the point, you say Scotland and Wales pay no Parking fees at hospitals, The Welsh have enjoyed free prescriptions for years and I think the Scotts gain that privilage next year - "The United Kingdom" not under this governemnt why should what you pay for Parking, Prescriptions, Optical Services or Dentistry depend on your postcode in a United Kingdom where we all get one vote for One National government
Complain about this comment
hi i work at uhw in cardiff i have to pay to go to work every day charges cannot be scraped as contractfor car parks run for another 10 years.we shouldnt have to pay to go to work marilyn
Complain about this comment
Just to put things right.The hospital parking in the majority of hospitals in Wales are NOT FREE.What most hospitals here did was hand the parking over to private parking companies just before they became free.What the FREE parking rules then said was, all hospitals whose car parks are still run by the hospitals themselves are 100% free, but that is a TINY amount. The Welsh goverment are misleading everyone just to make it look like they care.
Complain about this comment
I would like to make a comment on behalf of hospital staff. We have to pay £35 a year at the moment and have been told that it could go up even higher. For most staff that is a whole years pay rise gone.Why should we have to pay to go to work, we can't use public transport as we start early , before the busses are running and finish late , after they have stopped for the night.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Have hospitals in Wales abolished parking charges or are they in the process of doing so? A hospital I visited recently was charging £1 for 24 hours parking whilst visiting was for less than 2 hours a day.
My understanding was that because they are tied into a 'timed' contract with the parking company they will need to keep charges for some considerable time.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I had the pleasure, or not of taking a friend to the Royal Free in London(as featured on the show). Not knowing how long we would be there we paid £3 for an hour. Five hours later we left the hospital. I topped up the ticket every hour thus exceeding the time limit. There were simply no other spaces to move the car into and this was on Sunday morning. I can't imagine how mad i'd get if I had to spend the whole day there or longer. The ticket system does not offer any discount for longer stay. What's more there is no option to park outside the hospital as it's double yellow lines everywhere or take a chance with Resident's Permit territory. Realistically I would expect to pay some charge in a busy urban area but not get ripped off. I also agree with the comment of allowing a genuine visitor to reimburse or obtain a free parking ticket from the hospital.
Complain about this comment
I DO NOT AGREE WITH THE HIGH COST OF PARKING IN THE HOSPITALS. MY WIFE WAS IN HOSPITAL LAST CHRISTMAS FOR NEARLY 3 WEEKS AND I WENT TO SEE HER TWICE A DAY. AFTER A COUPLE OF VISTITS I PARKED OUT SIDE THE HOSPITAL BECAUSE OF THE COST. I WOULD AGREE A £1.00 FEE FOR 10 MINS TO ALL DAY TO HELP WITH THE RUNNING COSTS SO WHEN YOU GET YOUR TICKET WHEN YOU GO IN IT WILL COVER YOU FOR ALL DAY USE NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU GO INTO THE HOSPITAL
Complain about this comment
I am a 2nd year student nurse in shropshire. I have to pay for a parking permit for staff parking although spaces are not guaranteed, especially at busy times. It is discounted to what full time staff pay but I still think that, as professionals providing a public service we should not have to pay at all. I dont think that patients and/or visitors should pay either, its just another form of profiting off the vunerable. The money we get as students is not a lot anyway and having to pay to work is appauling. We should follow scotland and wales' example and scrap parking charges.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I agree hospital parking fees should be abolished they are vultures praying on the sick. People who need to go to hospital are worried enough without having to worry about how much or how long they are allowed to stay in the car park for. My Mum had a hospital appointment with a specialist to discuss her results of a resent brain scan. Having spent nearly 20 minutes looking for a parking place she was 5 minutes late for her appointment. Thinking she was only going to be and hour at the longest she bought a car parking ticket for 2 hours. She then had to wait and hour and a half in the waiting room before seeing the consultant. After being told she had a brain tumor my mother couldn’t take all the information and was in a state of shock. After being told the news she then had to see a Macmillan nurse which took up another hour. By this time my mother was not able to take in anymore information due to worrying too much about being over her time limit on her parking ticket and having her car clamped and not being able to get home. My mother then found a car parking ticket on her car for £18 which if it wasn’t paid within 28 days would double. It is cases like this or similar that I think the car parking fees should be totally abolished or they are given free parking spaces or vouchers to park.
Complain about this comment
Car parking fees should defiantly be abolished or a simple free car parking area for those who have an appointment. My dad was taken into hospital and through many hospital errors with his treatment had to stay in much longer than he expected. At one point my dad was near deaths door and fearing for his life my mum visited him every day. Due to the high price of hospital car parking fees my mum could not afford to stay with my dad for a long length of time. She could not work and lost wages during this traumatic time. It is stories like this or similar true stories, why I think it absolutely diabolical that anybody visiting hospital should be made to pay high car parking fees
Complain about this comment
I am not affected by hospital parking charges in the UK as I live in France. However, I believe the solution in France could be easily be adopted in the UK. While the norm in France is free hospital parking, some hospitals in large towns must take measures to ensure that adequate free parking is available to entitled persons. The solution is to inform, by way of a large notice, all drivers entering the hospital car park that, in order to leave the car park, they must demonstrate to the staff at the hospital reception desk that they have business in the hospital. This is usually a simple matter eg, an appointment notice or admission letter. It can be done after emergency treatment using confirmation by the Accident & Emergency staff. When this is done, they receive a token or a code which allows them to open the barrier to leave the car park. Much of the time, it is not necessary to go to the hospital by car: admission to and dischrge from in-patient treatment and out-patient appoitments in connection with serious illness qualify the patient for free transport to and from hospital in a vehicle which is appropriate to the patient's condition, be this a taxi or an ambulance.
Complain about this comment
when hospital fines started in was shocked...i absolutley think its discusting us paying to see our sick relatives. my dad is in hospital at since the last 2months and i have to miss days in the week to see him as i cannot afford the parking. this adds upset on him as he wants me to come every day.
i really do hope the so called goverment does something about this as it is not fair on the unemployed and low wages.!!!!
Complain about this comment
Not all hospitals in Wales have scrapped the car parking charges. I work at University Hospital of Wales who sold the rights to Vinci Car Parks, so charges are still in place here. They also own a car park next to the hospital which, because my colleague cannot get a car-parking space on the hospital site (because she lives 0.1mile under the required 3 miles) has to pay double what it costs to park on the hospital site. This car park is badly marked out, not very well lit, always packed, and the path leading up to it is very often flooded, and the diversion takes a lot longer.
Complain about this comment
I believe parking charges are part of an ill-health tax. The charges certainly seem to be well over a level to recover costs. This causes cars to be displaced into the local residential streets causing inconvenience to the local residents. The worst aspect of this tax is that at least a part of it is spent for the betterment of Scotland and Wales
Complain about this comment
Regarding Hospital parking charges, In feel very strongly that they should be either,abolished or have a barrier so that you pick up a ticket as you go in and only pay for the time that you are parked.
The Hospital that I visit charges £2.60 for three hours and higher for longer stay. More often or not the hospital looses out because if I am under three hours I will pass my ticket on too some one else.If they only charged for the time I was parked I would not do that
Complain about this comment
The arguements for the charges are that it raises revenue for the hospital trust who have to provide the facilities and it stops local commuters from using/abusing the hospital parking facilities.
However, the way these charges are implemented is often unfair. I feel that it is not fair to expect to have to feed a meter prior to your visit. Often, when arriving at a hospital you have no idea how long the stay will be and to have to keep dashing off to feed a meter is clearly wrong under certain circumstances.
I don't object to charges providing they are reasonable (and the £3 per hour that was mentioned on the show is outrageous) but they must be charged retrospectively and if necessary, invoiced (what if you dash to hospital and have no money on you?). The department that you visit should issue a chit that proves that you are on legitimate business at the hospital, which would give the holder a preferential exit rate. No chit- then the rate should be punitive to stop the casual parkers who find it necessary to block important spaces and catch the train!
Complain about this comment
If they do decide to scrap charges at hospitals in England, they do need to something to prevent people abusing them. Leicester Royal Infirmary's car park may be abused by fans of Leicester City and Leicester Tigers as both of their grounds are close by. Parking at the moment is a pain
Complain about this comment
Having worked for the NHS for a decade, I was appaulled to find a parking ticket on my car whilst on-call, following a 12 and 1/2 shift at the Royal Free Hospital on a sunday, with a hospital id badge and contact details clearly displayed on my car. Please note-I was parked in the staff car park and have been harrassed by more than 8 letters including threats to damage my credit references! Since when has it been an offence to park at ones workplace!
Complain about this comment
My husband was seriously ill in hospital and as a pensioner paying the parking fee daily was shamefully expensive. There are no exceptions for the disabled or pensioners. Surely there must be some control on these charges. It is scrounging from vulnerable people and nobody seems to care. Hospicom is another rip off that the hospitals allow.
Complain about this comment
Yes, in the ideal world hospital parking should be free. However if it was you would find it difficult to find spaces in most hospital car parks. Like everything else thats free the selfish and anti-social members of society will abuse it, to the detrement of the those who realy need it. Watchdog should do a test in Wales and see how many free hospital car parks have spaces at peak times of day.
Complain about this comment
I am disabled and have a blue badge for my car. To get about I use a wheeled walker or wheelchair. I have to attend quite a few hospital clinics but, even with the blue badge, I am expected to pay the full charge. I thought the charges were introduced to dissuade commuters from parking in the hospitals for free: not pay those of us attending the hospital through the nose! Why can't the hospital add a tear-off bit at the bottom of the appointment letter, which could be used when you park at the hospital to show why the vehicle has been left there? Does anyone seriously think disabled people would be attending a hospital for anything other than a legitimate reason?
Complain about this comment
I do think that they should abolish parking charges, but if it was a necessity to gain some money back for the upkeep of them then cap a charge of 50 pence for 1 minute to 24 hours. If you are a member of staff you should only pay a capped price if you earn over a certain amount e.g. nurse pays nothing, Doctor running private clinics pays capped price. I spend quite a bit of time at the hospital with my son and my husband on appointments and would not worry about paying a small charge but it would have to be small as we are on benefits and can only afford a small amount. I think most people would agree to paying a small charge, its just that the companies get greedy.
Diane from Oxford
Complain about this comment
I understand where people are coming from on this but I understand that in some places in Wales visitors can no longer park at hospitals. This is because where they are near city centres they make a great place to park for freefor commuters and shoppers! Even if they are not near the centre there are usually good bus services to the centre from the hospital and they are cheaper than paying city centre parking.
Complain about this comment
Where I live the parking charges are not excessive and fees are used to improve the facilites and excess placed back into the budgets of the hospital.
If people do not want to have charges then perhaps the hospitals might take a view that they dont need the car parking spaces, if you remove the car parks no fees therefore no issues.
The idea that the NHS is free is true for general care medical care, but if you go inside most will have a shop, or will charge for tv / phone, so like these examples the car parks should be seen as an "extra" and need to be paid for.
If a charges in England are removed then like the examples in Scotland and Wales, the car parks will be filled with all day stayers, which would force genuine visitor onto access roads or nearby public roads causing more problems for nearby residents or other road users or worst still visitors / patients getting issued with penatly tickets for breach of parking regulations and with most hospitals site being private land even disabled drivers would be subjected to the same breachs.
Complain about this comment
Given that we pay taxes and national insurance contributions, which are used to purchase land and estates that hospitals are built on, haven't we already paid for the right to park on this land when visiting, attending or working at hospitals. Furthermore isn't the NHS supposed to be a service that is FREE at the point of entry? Also, I was absolutely astonished when questioning hospital parking charges, when I was told that the hospital I was attending did not make any money from the parking fees as it was all paid to the company contracted to maintain and manage the parking facilities!
Complain about this comment
I was a Senior manager in the NHS for 20 yrs when parking charges were introduced and worked on London and commuter areas.It was necessary to introduce the charges 1 To stop all day free parking for commuters. 2 To prevent parking in and on hospital roads as it prevented both emergency and hospital transport to carry out their necessary duties. 3 to raise funds for hospital needs as NHS was being denied sufficent funds. When introducing the charges we were aware of the needs of patients and visiting relatives for long stay and urgent cases and variuos methods were used to waive charges. Funds raised at Hospitals where I was involved, raised in the region of £30,000 to £50,000 per year for patient services. None of this was brought out in your program. The NHS staff and management do care and in my experience put the patients needs first. No one bulks and paying large parking fees in town centre shopping ares etc.
Complain about this comment
Just to clarify the parking situation.
Scotland and Wales are in the process of scrapping their charges. Some Scottish and Welsh trusts have existing contracts with parking providers which have to be honoured. Many have chosen to reduce their charges until they become completely free.
Complain about this comment
I am in favour of hospital charge, earlier this year I was taking a friend to Singleton Hospital daily for radiotherapy, we had a weekly ticket costing £5 and had no trouble parking. Half way through the treatment the free parking came in with the result that the car park was full by 9a.m and it was impossible to park.
Complain about this comment
I find it strange that I've heard that the Hospital car parks in Wales are supposed to be free as I myself have not had that experience and have had to pay on numerous occasions this year to go to the Glan Clwyd Hospital Bodelwyddan, I most recently had to pay 3 times on Friday alone last week. I had to pay £1.20 each time. The first time was when I followed the ambulance which carried my brother who was having a severe angina attack. I had to park up to check he was OK, then had to leave the car park to pick another relative who was obviously concerned and had to pay again on my return which was only about ten minutes later. Then had to pay again later to come back to visit him as they were keeping him in for observation. So that was a cost of £3.60 in a matter of hours. I've calculated that since May I must have paid out at least £35 - £40 in car park charges at that hospital with having to take and visit my mother and brother.
Complain about this comment
HOSPITAL PARKING FOR FAMILY OF PEOPLE THAT ARE VERY ILL, SHOULD BE STOPPED, AS I SPENT A FORTUNE WHEN MY SON GOT DIANOSED WITH A VERY SERIOUS ILLNESS , I HAD TO PAY FOR PArking every day £5 plus , even though i was on a very low income ,and had to pay for other things too,. my son luckily came over this, but it may come back, SO IF IT DOES DO I HAVE TO STRUGGLE AGAIN??? IS THIS RIGHT, MY SON HAD A VERY BAD PROBLEM , IT WAS WHERE HE COULD MAYBE LIVE OR DIE, IN THE 2 YEARS WHERE HE AND THE FAMILY THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE, WE HAD A VERY BAD TIME, AND A
HARD TIME TO FIND THE MONEY TO PAY PARKING COSTS
,THANK YOU
Complain about this comment
HI. I ALREADY POSTED A COMMENT, BUT I NEVER SAID WHAT MY SON WAS SUFFERING FROM .. aplastic aneamae
that is bone marrow failure .where it dont work, and my son luckily got over it , and things are ok right now, bt, i had to pay over 5 pound a day in parking , and i was on incone support . had to pay for a person to take us there ,,then extra parking too,
Complain about this comment
I can understand if city centre hospitals charge or parking as this can be abused. In Cambridge it has gone the other way- Addenbrooks Hospital charges are so high that staff and visitors now use the Park and Ride service for the Cit centre rendering this "Shoppers" service useless after 9am.
I also cannot understand why these charges do not use "Off Peak" It cost us £3.40 from Midnight to 5am in the University Heath Hospital Cardiff when we took my father in. This is totally unjust.
Complain about this comment
I really feel for the people visiting sick or dying loved ones, only to be charged for the 'privilege' of being able to park at a hospital. It may be of little consolation but, astonishingly, patients at Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells Trust hospitals can rest assured that each and every NHS employee with whom they come into contact with (even when on a 4.00am call-out) would have also had to pay for the 'privilege' to park - even though they work there!
To overcome car parking abuse surely a Supermarket-type parking fee redemption system inside the hospital on proof of appointment or visiting an in-patient would resolve this issue. Better still, if our PM really believes that we live in a one-nation state then can we do as they do in Edinburgh and Cardiff and not have to pay for hospital car parking charges. It is undignified and an utter disgrace in this supposed 'land of plenty'!
Complain about this comment
The issue of car park fees goes against free treatment for all mantra. It affects the cost of treatment and is a means of the NHS trusts racking back money wasted in other areas.
To say it prevents commutors using hospital parking is pure folly, the hospitals I use are in no way beneficial to commutor parking due to their locations.
I have myself had to deal with 2 cancers over the past few years and find that although I have been out of work, due to the illnesses, and on incapacity benefit, myself and my family have had to endure further cost to visit the hospitals for treatment and family visits. Surely this cannot be right that car park busnisses and NHS Trusts benefit from individual hardship.
Complain about this comment
I THINK ITS DIABOLICAL WHEN YOU CAN'T GET A DISABLED SPACE BECAUSE THEY HAVE CLOSED 7 OF THE CAR PARKS FOR HOSPITAL "REGENERATION". AND IF YOU CAN'T GET IN A DISABLED BAY YOU HAVE TO PAY DESPITE HAVING BADGES. IT'S DISGRACEFUL. MY BABY SON WAS BOOKED IN FOR AN OPERATION LAST WEEK AND WE COULD NOT FIND A DISABLED SPACE SO THE PARKING ATTENDANT LET US PARK ON THE SIDEWALK TAKE OUR BABY IN, SETTLE HIM IN AND THEN MY HUSBAND HAD TO COME BACK OUT AND WAIT UNTIL HE COULD GET INTO A DISABLED BAY. IF I WAS ON MY OWN WHAT CHANCE WOULD I HAVE HAD? ITS A DISGRACE TO THE NATIONAL HEALTH. IT GETS YOU IN A STATE BEFORE YOU GET TO WHERE YOU HAVE TO GO.STOKE ON TRENT
Complain about this comment
well sorry watchdog you got it a little wrong, withybush hospital, haverfordwest,pembrokeshire, still charge for parking, not that you can always find a space.so not all of wales has stopped charges.
Complain about this comment
My local hospital has recently decided to introduce parking charges for blue badge holders if they have to park in an ordinary bay when the blue badge bays are full. As this is a large hospital with only 44 blue badge bays across the whole site I reckon the chances of me getting into a blue badge bay when I have to go for necesssary treatment and blood tests are practically nil unless I aam very lucky! I don't understand why disabled people have become a target in this way,I did write to my local paper and was very surprised that there was a reply from the hospital on the letters page this week, at least they read my letter although I am still no closer to understanding why this change in parking charges. I don't agree with charges for anyone, many people have to attend for treatment and may not be eligible for a blue badge, it's another tax to pay when there is probably more than enough to worry about and come to terms with. The term 'national' doesn't seem to be correct with the differing attitudes in healthcare amongst the countries that make up the UK.
Complain about this comment
Today my best friend and myself spend more than £20 in parking tickets at the Newham hospital in London while my friend's wife was having her braist remove, she has cancer. Not enough the hospital has two block buildings with individual car parks. The ticket of one carpark is not valid for the other bulding. So when they transfer my friend for one building to the other whe had to get new tickets, even if we still had time in the previous tickets.
[Note from Watchdog: We've spoken to Newham hospital and they say this: It appears that the patient was given the wrong information at the time and needlessly purchased an additional ticket. The Trust would be happy to offer a refund to the individual concerned (I include my contact details for you to pass onto them).
The Trust also offers much reduced rates for those that require it. A £7.50 charge for up to seven days parking for long-term site users, and for cancer patients, there is a £7.50 permit which allows ten visits per permit which is not time limited and can be used whenever they visit site.
I'll forward the contact details to you.
Regards, Eddie Botsio, Watchdog web team]
Complain about this comment
I work as a nurse in a hospital in the midlands and find it annoying that I have to pay for parking which comes to about 19 pounds a month. However this is cheap compared to some of my friends in other hospitals who have to pay over 30 pounds just so they can park near where they work.
Some people may say that public transport is the answer but when you start work at 7 in the morning this is not always possible. Charges should be abolished but the hospitals have to take steps to make sure people do not take advantage of this.
Complain about this comment
Your comments on hospital parking are wrong, The Prince of Wales hospital in Heath Cardiff still charges about £2 for a two hour stay, abolished?, please look into this.
Complain about this comment
Any type of Fixed Tax or Fixed Charge favours the well-off over the least well off. It is not “just £3” to park, point of fact if I were to apply this “just £3” to the CEO of My Local NHS Trust on his salary of £162,000 per year it would be £51.16 each time he parked. Simple proportionate maths work it out!
When you go about setting a fee like this what you are actually saying is “we don’t mind pricing the least well of out of our car park” It is a form of social exclusion and goes with the kind of mind set that thinks “shouldn’t poor people use public transport anyway, isn‘t that what its for?” It has no place in an organisation owned by the public, run by the public for the public.
My local NHS Trust Hospital has no mother and baby parking (unlike local Supermarkets) fails to provide any where near enough Blue Badge bays, and what it does provide has little or no additional room for the person with disability to open the car door. In the paid areas the bays are so tightly packed you’ll risk dents in your door as people who are elderly, infirm or overweight, struggle to enter and exit their cars. I would have though core business for a hospital was, Mother & Baby, Disabled, Elderly or Infirm. Am I wrong?
Over zealous and inexperienced junior mangers come up with rash policies like “we could make extra money charging people to park”, these are then tempered by the older and more experienced management that realise “people are our business” they are essential to it not a nuisance. Junior mangers start at around £18k per year not £162,000. For that we expect a lot more imagination and ability to control costs regardless of what Head Office (The Government) impose.
Complain about this comment
Carparking is part of costs attached to running a car. If you wish to park, close to your destination it is a indemand resource and therefore needs to be paid for. If you think its unfair to pay DONT DRIVE!!.
The disabled should not complain either as a space close to the enterance is great and should be charged higher than the rest of the car parks, the blue badge isnt a "park anywhere" badge there are rules for onstreet useage, and off street are null and void and with hospitals on private land, as highlighed about clamping, if the hospital doesnt give concessions then they dont need to.
The best way to end any debates whould be to have a fixed price guide and concessions list from goverment, not the buck getting passed saying its upto the local trust to decide as reading some of the comments posted some of the objections are against the high and wide ranging methods of charging not the charges them selves.
Complain about this comment
I too started work at a local hospital but work shifts granted public transport is easy for me but also difficult as I work shifts.
yes there have been emergencies where I have had to go in for family members being admitted, no it's not fair, yes they should be scrapped and a better system implemented like the swipe system or getting a ticket validated.
If you do get clamped, if you actually had something to do in the hospital it should be removed free as it is a hospital where people go to get better recieve treatment not to get even more headaches and fears of thier car being clamped or the threat of a ticket.
At the same time the public have to realise it is not just a convienant place to park but somewhere that people need space as a matter of urgency at times and should not be misused
Complain about this comment
I have had multiple illnesses for just over five years now which means i have to visit all three hospitals in leicester. I am in receipt of benefits and cannot really afford the parking charges however whilst you can claim the money back it is such a hassle to do so and not really something that the vast majority of people i know in similar situations do. Abolishing all hospital charges is fine by me as when you visit the hospital it is the last thing on your mind to have to worry about parking charges
Complain about this comment
I think its ridiculous that you should have to pay for hospital car parks,when its an emergency or a loved one who is in hospital the last thing you want to think about is putting money in a meter.My son was born 3months early so was in hospital for over 3months,i had to pay day in day out to park in the carpark to be able to see my son,theres nothing worse at stressfull times you dont need the extra stress and also as time passes that money mounted up into alot i couldnt afford.I was dealing with the upset of having a sick baby this just wasnt helping.I understand that the city centre hospitals may need to charge to stop others parking there but maybe a permit system or something of that sort should be set up.Also its ridiculous that hospital staff take up the majority of spaces.
Complain about this comment
I came across a nice little earner for hospital car park administrators in Exeter. Most of the meters are set 15 minutes slow. This means that when you pay for 1 hour of car parking, you effectively only get 45 minutes.
Complain about this comment
My orthodontist is at the hospital, along with my physio therapists! it cost a fortune, and appointment are always late so you have to pay more than you should have to!
The last thing people with ill friends or relatives need is to have to worry about how much money they will have to fork out for parking. I cant think of any reasons to keep charges that outweigh those to abolish them!!
Complain about this comment
i think is a disgrace that ANYWERE should charge for parking. dont we pay enough tax as it is?
Complain about this comment
I was seriously ill a few years back and my mother had to take me to Guys hospital. As I was in a lot of pain, my mother did not get a ticket until I was safely in hospital. When my mother had got back to the car she had found that she had been clamped and was asked to pay £150 to be unclamped. My mother argued this and the Security guard said he would reduce the fee to £25 and would take it off. This I guess would have gone straight in his pocket.
Complain about this comment
When i had my tonsils out when i was little, i remmeber my parents had to keep leaving to feed the meter! How terrible must it be for a child to not have a parent with them after having a terrible accident....because they have to feed the meter!!
terrible!
Complain about this comment
I have been to hospital recently, Salford Royal Hospital, also known as Hope hospital in Salford.
On entry to the car-park, you get a ticket, and there is a machine at the entrance, as you leave you insert your ticket and pay the amount on the screen. However, at the bottom of the sign telling you about car park charges, it says the first hour is free, but the machine doesn't seem to know this and still charges you anyway.
As it can take 15 minutes for a healthy person to walk from the car park to the ward or clinic, and all hospital visits seem to involve long waits, a free hour does not seem that generous anyway.
The hospital is currently undergoing a major rebuilding program, The first thing they have built is not new wards or operating theatres but a new multi-storey car park.
NHS treatment should be free at the point of use, hospitals are being centralised. Two hospitals near me have closed, and a further one has lost its A&E. The only alternative to driving to the hospital id a £40 taxi fare, or three buses taking 2 hours or more.
Complain about this comment
It is difficult in our area our local hospital, Frimley Park, had severe parking problems before charges were introduced because the local railway station is only a few hundred yards from the hospital - this led to commuters parking all day for free.
I however do find it appalling that you should have to pay to visit sick friends or relatives, surely the answer would be to give free parking for 2 or 4 hours so that you can visit the hospital for free.
Complain about this comment
I had appointment at Wexham Park Hospital today at 3.40 and arrived at 3.35pm. They were running late and so didn't get seen until 4.40pm. Therefore they got an extra £1 out of me for the extra hour caused by them, now its only £1 but if they do that to everybody....
Complain about this comment
I'm horrified that hospitals try to make people pay for parking. Where is the customer service? Where is the compassion? When people are facing hard times, either by going to the hospital personally, or by visiting sick relatives or friends, the last thing they need to be thinking about is whether or not they have change for the parking.
Friends have had spouses rushed into hospital unexpectedly, and had a bad day topped off by a bolchy parking attendant at the end of a long day when they had no purse and therefore, no change, on them at the end of it.
Charges should be abolished immediately, irrespective of the location in the UK.
Complain about this comment
i am training to be a parmedic and within my training i have to do hospital placements to gain my qualifications and registration as an health care professional. last week alone it cost me £45 for one week and i still have another 3 weeks in hospital training. god only knows how relatives with long term patients can afford these ridiculous rates.
Complain about this comment
I am employed as a nurse at Salford Royal Hospital an I have to pay £21 per month- £252 per year, to park at my place of work and this doesn't guarantee me a parking place. If the car park is full the barrier just wont open and you have to find alternative parking which could result in being late for shift and more money.
Complain about this comment
i had to take my son to emergency walk in center at the hospital.he is 1 yr old and we had to mess about with parking tickets before getting him treatment.its not right to charge to park in a hospital nobody wants to be there its just greedy.
Complain about this comment
I work at Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge. The parking charges for staff are 2 pounds a day. Which means I have to pay about 50 pounds a month towards parking. I think its unfair on the staff.
Complain about this comment
I regularly attend Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. Living in Wirral that cost me £2.80 for the tunnel and £2.00 for the hospital parking even with my daughter's Blue Badge for her wheelchair. When I enquired about the charges I was informed that the parking was privately owned and nothing to do with the hospital. I look at my payslip and wonder what my tax and National Insurance pays for and how those payments over the years for hospitals like Alder Hey have suddenly been been lost and assets taken from the NHS. Has the average person lost control national owned property.
Complain about this comment
On the subject of hospital parking, you recently declared Wales to be fee-free. Whilst this may be Wales's long-term intention the current position demands car parking at the south west Wales hospitals of Glangwili, Withybush, Prince Philip and Port Talbot all of which I have visited recently.
I agree with many posted comments that hospital parking is out of order. The problem of abuse could be remedied by s pass issued by the appointments administration.
Complain about this comment
A friend of mine had a stroke, after going to see him a few times and paying £2 each time I decided to park in a side street and on my return found a ticket on my car for parking in a residents only parking zone. It seems to me that the residents are sick of people parking there due to the expence of parking at the hospital maybe if the hospital parking was free there would be no need for resident parking only areas. How the council charge people to park on the public highway puzzles me. No one likes people parking in front of their house but if they don't have a driveway that area is part of the public highway or am I wrong??
Complain about this comment
I am giving an NHS staff members view, I work in a Welsh hospital that in the last year has abolished its charges, at first it was a relief mainly for relatives of patients who didn't have to pay to visit critically ill patients (some relatives stayed 24hours a day). However the hospital is near a University and swimming pool that have charges or permits therefore the hospital is now a free for all. Relatives can take up to 1 hour to park. My solution I feel is all the revenue made from charging in the past build more car spaces. The Trusts solution is now the staff do not pay any longer (and when they did they wern't guaranteed a space)we have had all our permits taken off us and have to re-apply and if we do not reach certain criteria we get no permit. Should I then not bother to turn up to work or will the Trust pay my taxi fares I think not.
Complain about this comment
Breifly, hospital visits are usually for medical reasons and social reasons (visiting the sick). This I believe areessential aspects of a visit and to charge for the "privilege" is to take advanrtage of the sick and/or those who have a caring concern for them! Such charges therefore to my mind are daylight robbery and English NHS shouold be ashamed of themselves, especially when this Government has already poured millions into the system!
Complain about this comment
I understand that the car park needs to make some profit but when my mum was receiving treatment we could buy car park tokens at 50p from the hospital reception instead of paying an hourly rate. The amount was fair if the visit was genuine.
Complain about this comment
I don't mind paying if it was reasonable.Down at Ealing Hospital you must pay a minimum of £3.50 standard just to get a ticket even for 20 minute visit, when you can get a space. To make it worse you have to put your licence plate number in so even if you were going to share the ticket you can't. also the machines swallow money and no one is ever there to help and the are complicated so i see most people struggle to use them. it is maddness for anyone struggling to get to the hospital.
[Note from Watchdog: Thanks for your comment. Just to clarify, the hospital says it does provide five spaces for free parking of up to 30 minutes and also offer free parking for cancer patients receiving regular chemotherapy treatment, and others such as parents of children being cared for in the hospital, bereaved relatives and relatives of patients being treated in intensive care.
Best wishes, Zoe Behagg - Watchdog web producer]
Complain about this comment
my wife had to go into musgrove park hospital taunton somerset for a day case opperation last week.
we went on the previouse friday for her pre opp assesment. parking was just over 2hrs. it cost £4:80.
on the day of her opp. we had to be there by 8am.
she had her sucssesful opp and we left at 4:40pm
parking cost £7::20.
plus each trip was 28 miles EACH WAY.
we are pensioners and this charge plus petrol costs are a lot out of our budget. and when you are told you need this procedure,and it has to be done at this hospital, because they are the only one that does this in your county/area.
if you need regular treatment for cancer or dialisis for example this is a penalty cost on ilness. and the hospitaals are making a huge profit out of the sick .
[Note from Watchdog: Thanks for your comment. Just a small point to add here, parking for 2 to 4 hours costs £4.40.
Best wishes, Zoe Behagg - Watchdog web producer]
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Some urgent changes definitely need to be made to hospital car parking policies.
In January this year my daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. We have had endless hospital appointments for further investigations, check ups, etc. She is only 2 years old and wears special boots that are provided by the hospital. Each time her feet grow, we have to go to hospital to be measured, then go back for fittings.
I am also 8 months pregnant and needed extra monitoring because of my daughter's condition. Instead of attending our local GP surgery for midwife appointments, I have to go to our local hospital for regular appointments.
We often have 3 hospital appointments per week, sometimes two in one day. I recently had to be admitted to hospital and, since my husband had to stay home with my daughter, I had to drive myself and leave the car in the hospital car park for over 24 hours. This cost me over £10.
There is no bus service to the hospital from the rural village in which we live, so taking the car is our only option.
We must have spent hundreds of pounds on hospital car parking this year. Our hospital has a minimum charge of £2.30 so even if we pop in for a quick blood test or foot measure, we still have to pay £2.30.
I see the parking charges as a treatment 'access' charge. It is simply another way of introducing a charge per appointment. I realise that hospitals would have to find alternative income streams if they were to scrap parking charges, so that is not an easy decision to take. However, some sort of scheme must be set up for patients with longstanding conditions that require regular hospital visits. An option to pay for a monthly pass would be of interest to us.
It gets me even more frustrated when we move into the next charging band, just because clinics are running late, which is obviously not our fault. We have even had to go back for repeat blood tests because the lab has used the incorrect specimen bottle, and pay again for parking.
Complain about this comment
We all know that the NHS is strapped for cash and car parking fees doubtless help 'swell the coffers'.
I can't say I fully agree with car park charges generally though. In certain situations it's fully understandable that there's a fee - one hospital my mother was at for several weeks was very near a mainline station and without the car parking charge there would NEVER have been any spaces for visitors as commuters were constantly using the hospital as a convenient car park.
However, in hospitals where this problem doesn't exist I don't agree with the charges. But if they do have to charge why can they not at least charge you for what you use, and not for what you MAY use?!
Every single hospital I've been to operates a Pay & Display system, often with a 2 or 3 hour minimum. Much as I loved my mother, a 3 hour visit was never on the cards! The flip side of the coin is knowing just how long you will be when attending the average NHS hospital for an appointment - if you dont' prepay for sufficient time you run the risk of a penalty!
Even more frustrating is the use of machines that require partial registration numbers so you can't even pass your unused time onto someone else!!
Complain about this comment
I would like to congratulate the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham for NOT charging for car parking. My son was recently referred to the hospital, and imagine our surprise when we discovered that there were no parking fees to pay. Especially welcome when parents are staying on site when children are admitted. Well done ROH!
Complain about this comment
I have an 8 year old who has regular visits to hospital and it costs me approximately £4.50 to park for each of his appointments. That’s bad enough but on top of that most people have to have time off work to attend hospital appointments, which in my case is unpaid and its 40 mile round trip as our local hospital does not have the specialist Dr’s my son needs. To take my son to see his Dr costs me about £50 a visit. Never mind what it costs when he is really unwell and admitted for several days at a time.
I do however understand that hospitals need to find ways of making money to maintain the car parks as the NHS is not a never ending pot of cash and if they didn’t we wouldn’t be able to have all services which the NHS provide, but at the hospital we attend they have had to shut the car park for patients and visitors as it is unsafe are we now to use staff car parks.
This clearly shows that the money they are taking in car parking fees is not going to the up keep of the car parks. I strongly believe this is wrong as the staff who also have to pay for parking and their car parks have been handed over for patients and visitors to use and with hospital bosses expecting staff to use either the park and ride or park at another hospital and get the bus which is another 30 min journey.
Something needs to be done about this situation, it not going to get any better without intervention.
Complain about this comment
IT'S SO DUMB
Complain about this comment
parking should be abolished in hospitals. in this world we pay enough taxes to provide the upkeep of parking facilities.
however i had to take my son for an operation some distance away and they provided a service whereby if you showed your appointment letter on exit you were given a free payment ticket for the meter. this was most helpful since my son was a day case and we were there for at least some seven hours.
Complain about this comment
I believe that hospital charges should scrapped. I find it totally wrong that NHS trusts profiteer from people who are ill or people supporting people who are ill. I understand in some areas preventing parking abuse is necessary but this is possible by a nominal charge couple with a token system for car park exit. I know of several hotels who use such a system succesfully for their residents.
I know from experience the parking costs that canescalate when a family menber is admitted to hospital. In the last year of her life my mother spent several days in hospital or attending hospital clinics. Supporting my mother for one day in A&E at Addenbrooks cost £16 whilst taking her to various clinic cost anything up to £10 mainly because the system is designed to extract the maximum payment from hospital visitors.
My daughter is a nurse at Northampton General Hospital where she has a carp park fee taken from her salary. Nurses are not highly paid and then are penalised further for the privalege of helping the sick. I wonder how the senior administrators pay compares.
(Note from Watchdog: Here are the parking fees from the Addenbrokes website. Up to 1 hour (any time of day): £1.80
Up to 2 hours: £3.00
Up to 4 hours: £6.00
Up to 6 hours: £9.00
Up to 8 hours: £12.00
Over 8 hours: £15.00
Night rate
Any length of stay between 19:00 – 07:00: £3.00
Maximum charge* £15.00
*For up to 24 hours
If you leave after 24 hours you will incur the maximum charge plus the day's hourly charge as stated.
Sunday
£3.00 for any length of stay
Discounted visitor ticket
If you are visiting long stay inpatients a £25.00 fortnightly parking ticket is available (this equates to just under £1.80 per day). Regards, Eddie Botsio, Watchdog webteam.]
Complain about this comment
I visited my local hospital with my 4 year old son at 3am last month because he was having an asthma attack. They managed to stabalise him and I was able to take him home at 5am. In order to leave the car park I had to pay £4. As you can imagine I had nothing with me, I had left home in such a rush. In the end the car parking attendant took pity on me and let me out.
In the early hours of the morning the only people visiting a hospital are having a personal crisis and I don't know how car parking charges can be justfied.
Next time I will call an ambulance!!!!! as it's cheaper.
Complain about this comment
In Bridgwater the current Hospital is in the Town Centre and most patients and a large number of the staff can walk to it. They are planning to move it to an out of Town location which wull mean that virtually 100% of people will need to drive or get transport. Apart from the obvious environmental cost of this they will then have the ability to charge virtually what they want for parking as most patients will need to park there.
Complain about this comment
I think a 'reasonable' charge is acceptable. It's sensible commercial enterprise to generate some income for the NHS through car parks, food and drink, gifts and so on. Speaking to one NHS Trust Chairman they don't seem to think there is much extra value to them running any of these 'small' business opportunities themselves so they give away the extra potential profit to companies that run the canteens, and they rent some space to others. I am not sure if they share the running of the car parks or just contract others to the run them for a fee - in that case it is definitely robbery. If they can put all the money into the NHS then I think it is fair to charge. For most of us it is not a daily charge but an occasional one. I understand if you take the view that we pay our taxes for the NHS and that should include everything. However it is far more sensible to make small charges for those USING services we all pay for. That could bring us in to a whole different area so I wont go there. Someone else mentioned about Blue Badge spaces being free and whe nfull they ahve to find a regular space and pay. I dont quite see why a Blue Badge holder should not pay for parking? Can someone enlighten me please. It's enough that for some reason they can park on yellow lines REGARDLESS of whether they are causing an obstruction. What is the point in only Blue Badge holders being allowed to block a road etc.? I have drifted, forgive me.
Complain about this comment
Charging at hospital car parks is a disgrace.
I was disgusted with the £12 charge I had to pay after spending 4 hrs with my dying Nan at St.George's Hospital in Tooting at the weekend.
It just added insult to injury and I'm sure I'm not alone.
[Note from Watchdog: Thank you for your comment. We spoke to a spokesman at St George's Hospital and he said:
"While parking charges do apply (£2 for every full hour up to 4 hours, rising thereafter) there are a range of concessions available for patients and visitors.
Bereaved relatives are not charged to park at the hospital and details are available from ward staff. If a parking charge has been paid for such a visit then the family member concerned should write to the Complaints Department, St George’s Hospital, Blackshaw Road, London SW17 OQT giving details of their visit and attaching a receipt for the parking charge."
Regards, Eddie Botsio, watchdog web team.]
Complain about this comment
Im so anoyed by hospital charging. I recently had to go to a&e on a weekend after 5pm. I don't mind paying as i agree that the car parks would be used by others but why not do some sort of system where anyone using or in the hospital will not have to pay and give prove of doing so. I didn't mind come out in pain and having waited over 5hours to see a doctor for less than 5mins, i was still in a good mood. But to come out and have to pay over 10pounds for the privalage i was not impressed.
Complain about this comment
I had to ferry my mother to and from hospital most days during August when my dad was taken into intensive care. I work during the day. For my mother to visit dad from where she lived, she needed to spend 5 hours of her day on a bus. She could not stay later than 8pm if she wanted to catch the last buses back home and would never have been able to respond the night the hospital called at 11:30pm to tell us dad was slipping away. I had no choice but to drive mum there, that night we were there twice, total 8 hours. I would have paid twice. Why should I?
As I work, is it really practical to get a bus (at one per hour) direct to the hospital after work, only to find I couldn't get home? Buses are fine if you live in the city where the hospital is. Not all of us do live close to the hospitals we use, hence we need a car! Total car parking costs for the month before dad died would have totalled hundreds of pounds. Is that fair?
I object to those of us visiting a dying relative and objecting to paying an extortionate amount being called tight fisted. As if we don't have enough to worry about!
As someone who is terminally ill and needing regular hospital visits, why should I have to pay? I didn't ask to be ill, why make me pay to go to get treatment as well?
There is technology already in use whereby numberplates of cars parking are noted, when you go to the ward / reception, you confirm that and get a pass code to get out or the system is told it's OK to let you out. Secure airport parking can use it! (I work at an airport). Hence if you abuse the system, you can't get out again!
Who does that car park charge go to and what do they really do with it?
Complain about this comment
I do not know if anybody else has brought this up. Where I live we have the Kent & Sussex Hospital. They charge for parking but if they did not the car park would be full with all day parkers as it is only two minutes from the main shopping centre.
Complain about this comment
The issue of Hopital car
parking charges mainly focuses on the parking fees for patients and visitors. I live within a few yards of Sandwell Hospital in the West Midlands. To avoid parking charges the local streets are congested every day will staff parking outside private houses.
This is a complete nuisance. If you happen to leave home at a time that the shifts change then you can be sure that you cannot park outside your own house when you return.
Complain about this comment
I think its wrong for Englands hospitals to charge for hospital parking when Scotland and Wales have abolished theirs.
The minimum amount I have to pay is £2 for my 30 min appointment at my hospital. Parking spaces have been reduced due to new buildings being built on carparking spaces. They should at least drop the prices and charge for every 30 mins at a reasonable rate if the government are going to continue to charge. But to abolish the prices all together would be welcomed!!
Complain about this comment
No. It's a terrible idea. What I don't understand is how can a hospital which is bought with tax payers money then charge tax payers again to use the land which we bought in the first place?
Complain about this comment
I am one of a number of frustrated hospital staff who have to pay for the liberty to be able to park at their place of work!
What other professions have to pay to park at their place of work? This is to be able to leave your car in a dark secluded car-park, sometimes overnight, where there have been reports of muggings and cars being stolen. When i parked my car nearer the hospital last week when on night shifts i came out to find a parking ticket on my car!
Thanks NHS!
Complain about this comment
At Doncaster Royal Infirmary the charges are satisfactory but space is limited. The outside road is free for 3 hours but is monitored by Council Traffic wardens who think nothing of slapping a £25 fine on someone who is a few minutes over. Also one area has signs which need updating from 30 mins to 3 hours (they have known for 12 months +) but still they continue to fine people. This is a council taking advantage of people who often are anxious and ill.
[Note from Watchdog team: Thank you for your comment. Doncaster Council says it’s in the process of changing the 30-minute parking zone so that it corresponds with the rest of Armthorpe Road adjacent to Doncaster Royal Infirmary which is a three-hour maximum stay. This is expected to be in place by early 2009.
Best regards, Mariam Abu-Hejleh, web team]
Complain about this comment
I work in the NHS and totally disagree with the charges from an employee's perspective or a patients'. Hospitals across Birmingham are charging approximately £2 for an hour which I think is ridiculous. I wouldn't agree with the common term used "overstretched NHS". The amount of money that is being pumped into the NHS for lifestyle diseases, alcohol+drug misuse, obesity and the regular Saturday A&E drunken visits is far more than simply charging the public who are coming to visit their close family and friends at the hospital or even for patients who have regualr visits to the hospital. I don't even pay that much for parking in the central of Birmingham when shopping!
For e.g. this is a comparison of what it costs the NHS in just tackling obesity: £1billion/per year
Car parking costs = £95million
Complain about this comment
There is an alternative I have not seen yet, and whilst I understand that hospitals value the income - their staff are suffering too.
One problem pre-charging was when people, with nothing to do with the hospital, parked their cars and left them there for days or to go shopping!
Maybe a happy medium could be a ticket issued by the hospital for each patient to either use or pass to the person bringing them/or a visitor, to validate their reason for using the car park.
Extra visitors, non-appointment people, would then have to pay to come out of the car park. What about a 'get out free (or minimal charge) ticket for ligitimate users?
Complain about this comment
A reply to nubmer 19 about bus journeys to the Hospital- I had to take my son, I thought I would go green and take the bus instead of the car. it cost me on the bus £13.50 return!
My local Hospital is Southampton and also Princess Anne Hospital it charges £1.70 an hour yes you get a redused rate if your there for a while. There needs to be somethng done about Hospital parking for all. I understand that car parks do not pay themselfs, but why so expencive? A new fair system is needed!
How is it fair charges are from £2 a day to £2 a hour? The same price at every NHS hospital!
Complain about this comment
having had two children at hospital within the last three years, i do appreciate that parking costs are astronomic, and are almost insulting when we all pay so much in our taxes. there should be stricter fines for those who abuse the parking at the hospital. our local hospital is five minutes from our main shopping high street, and i am absolutely sure that workers shoppers etc are responsible for taking up a lot of the vital car parking spaces. so if parking was free we would never be able to get a space when we needed. so i think keep the charges.
Complain about this comment
Since Papworth Heart Hospital introduced parking charges, Papworth village itself has turned into one large car park for the staff.
They park on any piece of land that is not vacant and down all the side roads nearest the hospital.
Personally it has ruined the village.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I agree with Isabeldee, there is some need for car parking charges to deter those who park their cars and then take the bus to work. However, I do feel that nurses and doctors should not have to pay to park, and those paying frequent visits to the hospital, both for treatment and to visit sick patients, should be given a card to use in the meter to over-ride payment.
Complain about this comment
Please let me add another Hospital to the shaming list, in my opinion of, stealth taxing the staff, patients, relatives & friends. My six week old son was released from Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge,on 191008. The Hospitals way of giving cheap ticket is paying £25 for two weeks parking, but what if the patient was released after one day or (forgive me but I hope this never happens) dies the following day? Firstly the hospital would let you use the remaing value of the ticket for follow up visits. Most families hope that they wouldn't have to do this. Secondly, well I wouldn't want to be in a situation trying to get my money back and hopefully no one will ever need too. The Hospital trust blames NCP and NCP blame the trust for the predictament, which leave patients and relatives angry and stressed. Yes some of us are lucky to be able to pay £1.89 per day, but the majority in this current credit crisis can't. Best result, please write a letter of complaint to the board who will review your case, abit late then but it may sort out for the next family! I'm sorry to the receptionist and car park supervisor who I vented my stress at,but the management on both sides need to stop passing the buck and a standard set for all NHS car parks. Can you pass this onto the health minister, whose Government I currently serve as a member of HM Forces. What is done is done, my son is well but hopefully I will not have to go through that stress again and nor should any other person or family. Loz Carty
[Note from Watchdog team: Thank you for your comment. Addenbrookes Hospital says money would be refunded in compassionate circumstances – it also says the £25 saver ticket works out at just under £1.80 per day, not £1.89 per day.
Best regards, Mariam Abu-Hejleh, web team]
Complain about this comment
If a hospital has parking then it should be paid for, but not managed by a private company who will then take the revenue and not have the facility to reimburse or not clamp in a serious situation. Why should staff not park? How many of the complainers work the unsociable hours we do and work 12 hour shifts. Public transport should be available for visitors. When my mother died I made it to the hospital after a two hour drive without any change for the parking meter on a Saturday afternoon. I made it into A&E when she had ceased breathing but her heart was still beating. Yes it cost me £80.00 I could ill afford, but I was there at her side. As for the medical student, use public transport, why should you have parking privelages. Similarly why should the large wage earners have free parking such as the CEOs?
Complain about this comment
I live a very short distance from a famous childrens hospital in Liverpool. Since parking charges were introduced,local residents
lives have been disrupted by staff and visitors parking in the local streets.I work in the community and am in and out throughout the day. Most days, even if I am only away for a few minutes,there will be several cars outside my home and I am unable to park (I carry heavy bulky equipment so this is very inconvenient). If I am lucky enough to find a space outside a neighbours house, they in turn have to find another space and it has a knock on affect! Although I understand our NHS is under pressure financially, there has to be a fairer system for all users!
Complain about this comment
I agree and understand the reasons for the charges.
Most people seem to forget that the reason there are any spaces available at all is because the charging is keep some people away. How else is a very finite resource to be shared out. There is always some one who beleives their need is more worthy than others.
Complain about this comment
Rather than cause Whipps Cross hospital to pay a further £158 (the hourly rate my company charges for my services) I have to pay a £15 fine for being 10 minutes over the hour. The fact that the pay meter where my car was parked was not working, meant I would have to walk across the other side of the car park, which would have made me go the 10 mins over. Who won here?
[Note from Watchdog team: Whipps Cross Hospital says there is a £40 fixed penalty fine for breaking any parking rules, reducing to £20 if paid within a fortnight.
Best regards, Mariam Abu-Hejleh, web team]
Complain about this comment
I am a community midwife and use my own car to carry out my job ie home visits, community clinics, home births etc. Because my office is based at the hospital I have to buy a parking permit to allow me to park.
I object to this as I do not have the option of public transport, walking, car sharing etc as I need to use my car for my job.
We have taken out a formal grievance to this effect but its has come to nothing and we are now forced to comply with this or threatened with disciplinary action.
Incidentally when the parking charges were introduced for staff it was a nominal amount which has increased dramamtically over recent years.
Complain about this comment
Most hospitals are situated in "built-up" areas and parking is very very difficult. It is bad enough to have to find somewhere to park without then having to find the money to pay which incidently the machines never have a change giving facility. But what is really disgusting is to have to pay when visiting a close relative when they are very ill. My daughter was in intensive care for many hours last year and indeed died, to have the worry about where to park and has the meter run out or I'll have to go and move it again is indescribably heartless on the part of the NHS managers. I bet they or the politicians that make these decisions don't have to pay to park when they are visiting their loved ones in hospital!
Complain about this comment
Hospital parking is a rip off, they sold the car parks off for a quick buck, and most hospitals don't gain any money.However in my area just to get as far as the car park is a miracle, the council cut the buses to such an extent that none get to hospital. so a quick emergency dash in a taxi is £62 return.This in an area with a bypass pattern ignored by Whitehall,lots of struck off patients who have to rely on casualty or out of hours or walkins
Complain about this comment
Whilst I can understand the parking difficulties of city hospitals, my local hospital is a blatant rip-off. Situated in open fields and serving a number of towns etc. in about a 20 mile radius it charges £3 for 3 hours and only gives 20 minutes drop off time. That is insufficient time to drop off forms and samples in Pathology and such areas.
BiggaBangor
Complain about this comment
I think that it is digusting that we should have to pay for visiting sick and ill people. its not like we go to hospitals for fun ! we are visiting our love one and the last thing we need to think about is if we have enough money for parking.
Complain about this comment
I don't have a problem with paying for parking, why should it be free? However I do have a problem with one of our local hospitals within Staffordshire who charge £2 for a minimum stay of four hours. I doesn't matter that you stay is only 15min. you pay for two hours.
Three times recently I had to call at this hospital (Cannock Chase) for a minor procedure, each vistit taking no more that 15min. each and that includes booking etc. total of 45min. and in all it cost me £6.00 to park my car.
Stafford General which is out local large hospital have a token system where you are issued with the token when you park and pay at a machine at the end of your visit for the amount of time you are parked. I have complained at Cannock and been told "that's the way it is" and "I could use the bus"!
[Note from Watchdog team: Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust says both the hospitals you mention run the same system with pre-pay and a token system both with a £2 minimum charge for up to four hours. Concessionary charges are offered in special circumstances.
Best regards, Mariam Abu-Hejleh, web team]
Complain about this comment
I am shocked to see so many people complaining about the fact they have to pay to go to work and should not have to! Most people pay to go to work in one way or another..what makes people who work at hospitals think they should be excluded from that?
I think paying to park as hospitals has become far to expensive. Indeed something has to be done to stop commuters and shoppers from parking in any hospital carpark but upping the charge to park there is possibly not the answer. Somthing like a barcode pass system for those people who are there for appointment might work. For those who are vising someone in hospital a weekly or daily pass or coin token system might work.
Members of staff should have either a separate car park altogther or have alternative arrangements to get there.
Sadly tho, no matter how much this is debated there is too much money being made out of parking charges I suspect, money that is needed to float the hospitals due to the lack of NHS funding so I dont believe anything radical will happen...which is a shame.
Complain about this comment
I think that paying for parking in hospitals is like a theft. I pay a lot of taxes that should pay the facility of using the car park in a hospital. I never feed the meter and I have never been fined. If I am fined I would tear the paper and throw it in the bin. I had only paid in a car park that I had to go through a barrier.
Complain about this comment
If hospital parking was free and un-controlled places would surely be taken by those not using hospital, especially in city centres where normal parking charges are high and this would be a problem. One way around this, which would allow outpatients and certain visitors for in patients, would be for the hospital to issue a parking permit with an appointment, or to give permits to close relatives and friends of in-patients (maybe restricted from 2 to 4 per patient depending upon circumstances and hospital policy). In that way the sick will not be penalized by high car parking charges. The charges could remain to deter other users without the necessary permit or reason to be at the hospital.
Complain about this comment
I can live with car park charges if the money is used to benefit the hospital but my local hospital pays rent and the money from the car parks goes to private investors
Complain about this comment
My husband and I work for Southend hospital NHS trust. We are both nurses. Last year the trust saved 8 million pounds. They are currently building a mulitstorey carpark as there is limited spaces to park. They are proposing that staff will have to pay to park but are not necessarily guaranteed a space. We are not happy. Why should we have to pay? It should be free for the staff who work hard for the trust, without us they would not achieve government targets.
Complain about this comment
Two years ago I had to have radiation treatment for breast cancer which only required 30min at the hospital but I had to pay for a full two hours charge to park mu car do you think that is right and fair I don't
Complain about this comment
As I work in a hopsital I have spent alot of money having to park in the car park - as a member of staff, we had no privilages except for a parking fob for which there was a year waiting list, but the price was the same. I feel that I have been working to pay for parking my car - I live out of town, therefore I need transport and as hospital grounds are not the safest, I felt I was obliged to park, therefore having to pay the charges - my hands were in effect tied!! Thankfully I live in Scotland and the charges are going - come on England - follow suit!!
Complain about this comment
I don't mind paying a reasonable charge as long as it all goes to the hospital. At Papworth, my husband had to have a heart transplant and I spent quite a lot of time there. Parking was £4 per day. There was no option to pay a weekly charge. For me and my visiting relatives it came to quite a lot of money especially in the first week when I was spending literally all day and night there. This is on top of the half a tank of petrol it took to get there from home. It doesn't matter if you can afford it or not, it all adds up and we can ill afford it in this climate. [Personal details removed by Moderator]
Complain about this comment
Parking charges are ridiculous everywhere. When you need to get to the hospital, usually in a hurry to meet the times or due to an emergency, the last thing you need to worry about is parking money and extortionate fees. After all where do the millions go? The quality of service in the UK is far worse than another countries purely due to the levels of demand on the available resources. I’ve just come back from Canada where service was amazing and most places had no parking fees else really low charges. We are losing out again for sure.
Complain about this comment
Hospital parking charges give a hospital no incentive to keep to time on appointments. We are served by 4 hospitals within 5 miles by car but none can be reached directly by bus and involve bus journeys of an hour plus thus the need to use a car.
Parking at all the hospitals is expensive with a visit rarely costing less than £5 - with most of the time taken up with waiting to be seen (it is rare to be seen at the appointment time with 2 to 3 hours late being the norm). At one hospital you need to take pot-luck on how long you will be as it is a pay and display car park.
If hospitals were genuine about wanting to stop non-hospital users in their car parks, a token system for people with appointments could easily be introduced. A similar arrangement could be made for visitors to patients and staff leaving just the non hospital users to pay a “penalty” charge for using the car park.
Maybe then the hospital administration could turn their attention to why patients are regularly not seen at the appointment time. Maybe with no car park charges, the late appointments might suddenly be a thing of the past!
Complain about this comment
It is not surprising that this anti-English government still insists on charging for parking at English hospitals. We also have to pay tuition fees and prescription charges, whereas other countries within the UK often do not. This is highly discriminatory.
Complain about this comment
i was once offered a job at colchester general hospital as a security officer for their car park and i was given strict instuctions that we were their for a general purpose and that the hospital was not really interested in the non-payment of parking fees, they just wanted to keep workers and visiters serperate, if i was to find someone who had not paid for parking i was to simply put a note on the windscreen because most people were just to scared to not pay !
Complain about this comment
I think it is disgraceful that we have to pay for hospital parking, they NHS is meant to be free. The staff should have their own car park and be issued with parking permits.
My husband was involved in a serious motorbike accident 2 years ago. He was in hospital for a total of nine weeks, I visited everyday, all day for the first three weeks and then twice a day at meal times because he could not feed himself so the cost of my parking fees for that time were in excess of £500.
Complain about this comment
i thinks its sick that they make you pay for visiting friends family in hospital the only thing ppl go in hospital for that is possitive is a baby so they are making money on ppls health and sickness which is so wrong!!maybe i would understand if it was a donation 2 the hosital to keep it clean!!or up to date but we all know it doesnt go towards the hospital dont we.also they even make staff pay who work there!i dnt live in theuk now but in france and have never had to pay for parking at a hospital and when spoken to ppl ova here about it they are very shocked to think ur country could do that to us!its totaly wrong and it should b stopped.
Complain about this comment
I had to attend Hammersmith Hospital for an MRI scan. I had no idea how much I'd have to pay to park but it turned out to be £1.80 per hour. I had only enough for 2 hours and as I was later than I'd hoped I could not get change. The scan exceeded 2 hours and I then had to pay a fine of £40! I suggested in a letter to the council that a better system would be pay on departure. This would involve no more staff but I got short shrift in their reply. I have full correspondence if you wish.
Complain about this comment
I am a student nurse, living alone with a mortgage and other bills to pay. I do not need the extra expenses of having to pay to park at work!
I pay on average £34.00 per week, On top of this I pay £22.00 per month for an 'out of hours' parking pass.
Last year I had to take a year out of training, because of financial difficulties.
When will the NHS stop penalising us for their mistakes!
Strange how they can find money for employing more management, or office equipment!!!!
Complain about this comment
i work for the Newcastle PCT but my office is in the grounds of the Newcastle Foundation Trust and because of this i have to pay £30.00 to that Trust whereas members of staff working at the headquarters of the Newcastle PCT do not have to pay any charges.
the car parking staff employed at the hospital are from a private company but apparently last year the Trust made over one million pounds from car parking charges.
i think it is disgusting that staff have to pay this much out of their wages even if they are on holiday we still have to pay. My husband works for another Trust in northumberland and he is charged £10.00 which is a reasonable amount. staff and patients should not have to pay to come to a hospital
anne Robinson Newcastle upon Tyne
Complain about this comment
My father has been very ill. He was treated at St Georges in Tooting. His stay involved an operation, followed by intensive care, then high dependency and finally a regular ward. During his 11 day stay I would visit as often as possible, in my car as public transport was fairly impractical. (I did try it one day.)
The car park charges were £2 an hour and after a certain period it jumped to a flat rate of £20 a day. That really adds up.
We should not have to pay BUT beware the car park was often full so I think we need more parking as well free or affordable parking.
I certainly felt I was being ripped of by the NHS when I had to pay £20.
Mark
Complain about this comment
I am a HCA at my local hospital and have to pay for the privilage im shocked that the nhs is claiming that they would have to make cut backs else where if they scraped parking charges because I think I am right in beleiving that the hospital I work at have actually sold the car park and are making no profit from the parking charges which are very expensive maybe the solution would be to have a small charge rather than a rip off. In reply to the person who thinks we should get the bus we all know its not convenient when freinds or family are poorly or rushed in plus for people who work there start to early to use public transport or take 2 hours for an half an hour journey who wants that added on to a 12 hour day I think the charges are a disgrace
Complain about this comment
My son is undergoing weekly regular orthodontic treatment at our nearest hospital,we cannot pay for short stay the minimum is 6 hours for £1.50 which i would not be opposed to paying, though it is frustrating to be charged this for a 15 minute appointment every week, and if you do not have a very early morning appointment you cannot get a parking space anyway.
Complain about this comment
Its not about parking its about the cost of fuel. Oil is now 62$ a barrel thats 15$ LESS than it was before fuel went through the roof.Please expose this major rip off mostly from the supermarkets. Why is no one shouting this from the roof tops, STOP THIS PROFITERING NOW !!!
Complain about this comment
I can understand making a small charge, the hospital may need money to maintain carparks, and a charge will put off people who aren't using the hospital from parking there. However the current charges are too high. I was shocked when my mother was issued with a disabled parking pass, and charges still applied for disabled spaces. Please reduce or drop. Hospitals of course are for sick people - don't charge them for being ill.
Complain about this comment
I very much sympathise with those who are struggling to pay NHS carpark fees. However, I would be very glad to do this! I am receiving treatment for cancer in my spine at University College Hospital in Central London. The hospital is being completely rebuilt and offers excellent services but it provides no car-parking facilities at all.
My diagnosis was confirmed a week ago and I started radiotherapy this Monday. I will go every weekday for 2 weeks. The length of time I have to wait is very unpredictable, and can be more than the maximum 2 hours for on-street parking, which makes it impossible to drive there even if I could afford the parking charges. These are exorbitant and usually involve having to pay the congestion charge as well, as the hospital is situated on the edge of the zone.
I might be eligible for hospital transport, but I would have to have been assessed 7 days beforehand - before I even received the diagnosis! Unfortunately, those of my friends who would be able to help on a weekday are too afraid to drive into Central London.
If I had a Blue Badge I might be able to get a parking permit - but it would take months to get a Disabled badge.
I have been desperately tired as a result of the treatment and the drugs I have to take to control severe pain, but I have had no choice but to go there each day by public transport, walking to the bus stop, now using a walking stick, and taking a bus and 2 tube trains each way. (I am writing this in the middle of the night because I got back home at 3.40 pm from an 11.40 appointment and was so exhausted that I went to bed and slept for 4 hours, so now I can't sleep!)
The thought of another week of this fills me with dread and I may end up having to get a taxi, which costs £30 each way. I am just glad that I don't have to have 6 weeks' radiotherapy as I did before.
It's about time that those who build new hospitals recognised that the people who go there are sick!
Complain about this comment
I think it is outrageous how the hospitals charge to use the car parks... when is clear to see that it is only to prop up their inadequacies in the finance department! Charging staff and patients who clearly need to drive to get to the hospital should be abolished...i read that hinchingbrooke hospital huntingdon made profit of £500,000 one year for car parking, this was used help their financial problems...these levels of profits at the expense of sick people and staff should make them hang their heads in shame!!! a hospital requires alot of staff and not all live locally so they have no choice and are held to ransom to pay for the privildge of working to the low paying nhs!! And these hospitals provide care and treatments for a large area and many towns they too have no choice but to drive to the hospitals.... This seriously needs to be re-thought and should be a non-profit making exercise for hospital and they should stop making from all of us that are forced to pay.....GGRRRR !! makes me mad!!
Complain about this comment
We have 2 hospitals in Peterborough. One is near the main raiway station for London and unless parking was charged for patients and visitors would not be able to use what little space there is as the commuters would use it all day long. The other hospital (part of the same trust)is in a residential area well away from anything and yet it charges as well. There is no need for it there. What there is a need for however at both sites is action to keep the disabled spaces clear for those for whom they are intended.
Complain about this comment
dear watchdog as a health worker of over 30 years i now find myself paying an astronomical amount basically to go to work the car park charges stand at £7 -40 for over 4 hours even a short stay is over £2 and the attendants close it without properly patrolling sometimes visitors and patients cannot park anywhere as all roads are yellow lines or resident parking people travel many miles to attend then miss an appointmentfor want of a parking space wrong ? i think so ,and to charge staff how would the hospitals open without us?
Complain about this comment
I am a Radiographer working in Surrey. I work full time in a team that provides 24 hour cover, 7 days a week. I work a variety of days, evenings, nights and weekends...
In 2002-03 the car parking charges for full time staff were £2.50 per month.
In 2003-04 this rose to £3.50 per month.
By 2005-06 it had increased to £6 per month.
Now in 2008 it is a percentage of your basic salary. For myself a rise from £6 to £29 per month!
Please help us NHS staff!
Complain about this comment
I am a Londoner living in Lancashire and find there is a huge variation in hospital parking charges, but luckily Chorley and Preston, which we use most often only charge £1.50 for the whole day. At Chorley if you are going to return the same day (like visiting a patient twice), you either keep the pay and display ticket and re-use it, or press the 'help' button on the barrier on exit and explain, and they let you come back. Also, after a patient has been in hospital for 2 weeks, one visitor (spouse, usually) gets a free pass! It has the car number on it, so it's not transferable, but another hospital not far away has no such scheme, and charges £1.50 for 6 hours, no concessions at all. And further away, Southport & Ormskirk charge £3 a day. Blackpool has variable charges but not excessive like that. Pay and display with variable charge seems silly when you can't predict how long you will be kept waiting.
I think Chorley is to be congratulated for keeping its charges low, and being imaginative about them.
Complain about this comment
I think the hospital parking charges are ridiculously high. I go to the hospital for an appointment every week and have done for over a year now - this has cost me £2 every time! On top of this, I can't see where my money is going, and there are rarely any spaces anyway, in fact they have just started digging up part of the already too small car park. I have also received a £35 parking ticket for being 2 minutes late back, due to the appointment overrunning!! I can't stand that going to hospital could be so stressful!!!
Complain about this comment
Free parking was not a founding principle of the NHS. Abolishing car parking charges would not be in the best interests of patients or staff.. Many already find it difficult to park at hospitals. A free-for-all policy in England will exacerbate this situation and cause chaos at more sites as witnessed in Scotland and Wales.
Free car parking will completely scupper attempts to reduce the NHS carbon footprint from transport and will undermine efforts to get staff physically active. It also runs contrary to Royal College of Nursing backing for the Take Action on Active Travel manifesto and the UNISON policy for Greening the Workplace.
If this proposal is implemented non-driving patients could demand their costs be reimbursed regardless of how they travel - by bus, taxi, tube, tram or rail. Instead of freeing car parks, NHS Trusts should promote the Health Travel Costs Scheme helping those on low incomes recoup their fares.
I do not expect my employer to pay my bus fare, maintain my bike or provide a large slab of tarmac to park my car. A car parking space is a perk not a right. There is no such thing as a free car park – all have running costs. Hospital charges should be retained but banded according to staff ability to pay, with surplus parking revenue invested in greener more sustainable modes of travel like car sharing schemes, new bus routes and bike sheds. Some NHS Trusts like Nottingham University Hospitals and Bristol PCT have implemented sophisticated travel plans that encourage staff to adopt more active healthy means of getting to work. The abolition of car parking charges would undermine these efforts.
If NHS car parking charges are abolished this will inevitably lead to budgets being diverted from healthcare to cover the costs of operating them. Car parking costs are travel costs not healthcare costs.
I cycle home from night duty and then walk with my 4 year old children to school. It is good for me, good for them and sets an example to my neighbours and the wider public.
[Personal details removed by Moderator]
Complain about this comment
Our local hospital Frimley Park staff and patients pay.At Farnham hospital smaller NO a&e its free.
Complain about this comment
How can Scotland and Wales have free parking and prescription charges and not England and Northern Ireland? This is totally unfair and quite frankly does not make any sense.
Complain about this comment
Free parking was not a founding principle of the NHS. Abolishing car parking charges would not be in the best interests of patients or staff. Many already find it difficult to park at hospitals. A free-for-all policy in England will exacerbate this situation and cause chaos at more sites as witnessed in Scotland and Wales.
Free car parking will completely scupper attempts to reduce the NHS carbon footprint from transport and will undermine efforts to get staff physically active. It also runs contrary to Royal College of Nursing backing for the Take Action on Active Travel manifesto and the UNISON policy for Greening the Workplace.
If this proposal is implemented non-driving patients could demand their costs be reimbursed regardless of how they travel - by bus, taxi, tube, tram or rail. Instead of freeing car parks, NHS Trusts should promote the Health Travel Costs Scheme helping those on low incomes recoup their fares.
I do not expect my employer to pay my bus fare, maintain my bike or provide a large slab of tarmac to park my car. A car parking space is a perk not a right. There is no such thing as a free car park – all have running costs. Hospital charges should be retained but banded according to staff ability to pay, with surplus parking revenue invested in greener more sustainable modes of travel like car sharing schemes, new bus routes and bike sheds. Some NHS Trusts like Nottingham University Hospitals and Bristol PCT have implemented sophisticated travel plans that encourage staff to adopt more active healthy means of getting to work. The abolition of car parking charges would undermine these efforts.
If NHS car parking charges are abolished this will inevitably lead to budgets being diverted from healthcare to cover the costs of operating them. Car parking costs are travel costs not healthcare costs.
I cycle home from night nursing duty and then walk with my 4 year old children to school. It is good for me, good for them and sets an example to my neighbours and the wider public.
Complain about this comment
While I don't disagree with abolishing the charges, I know that at my local hospital many of the spaces are taken by commuters parking for the day. A one off charge of £1.40 plus a bus ticket is considerably cheaper than city centre parking. The excelent bus sevice servicing the hospital make this easily practical.
Complain about this comment
I feel that having to pay for hospital parking is fundamentaly and morally wrong. My mother has been in and out of hospital a lot this year and each time, due to the long wait in A&E, my brothers are with her for about 12 hours. On one occasion, after being with her for 12 hours, my brother came out to find he was fined by the parking company on site around £25 for being 20 minutes over, as he did not make it back to the meter in time!!
I feel that it is a form of stealth tax and that this government will stop at nothing to take everthing that they can from us. How much of the pound that we work so hard for is actually left in our pocket when the government have taken their huge slice? I shudder to think!
I cannot understand how Scotland and Wales can allow free parking and yet we still do. Should we really be penalising the sick and their families at such difficult times?
However, I do understand that some form of control needs to be introduced to stop those who are not visiting from using the hospital car parks, such as tokens or similar.
Complain about this comment
i work at a northwest trust hospital,and have to pay £20.00 per month for parking.i blame memebers of the public for introduction of these charges.....when parking was free at our hospital,people would park in our carpark for free,and then go to work on a bus or walk to town for shopping etc,we have has occasions,where people hvae left their cars in the car park and gone on holiday!!
Complain about this comment
I am a student midwife and I do an 12 1/2 hour shift just like the qualified midwives and I have pay car parking charges which is £6 per day, if I do 3 shifts a week that is £18 a week and I only receive a NHS bursery which is alot of money out of bursery. I do not agree with car park costs for me or anyone else especially the elderly and feel it is unfair for people who get a ticket if they have been into A&E or in labour. Even at my local area the road surrounding the hospital has been limited to 4 hours free parking after that you get a ticket. As a student we will never be allowed to have a parking permit but hopefully we wll employed by our local trusts. However, if you are a health care assistant you can have a parking permit. Other hospitals that are attached to our university are allowed parking permits but we are not and our trust is fully aware of this.
Complain about this comment
I live a five minute walk away from my local hospital in a small close and hospital parking charges have majorly affected me. We have been over run with people parking outside our houses in every availiable space, i have continuously come home during the day only to find that i can't park outside or near my own house. Not only this but up and down the road people have been parking making the turning out of the junction blind. Some of these cars are nurses on 12 hour shifts who can't even park at the hospital and so block my drive for twelve hours!!! It isn't fair on them or us! Why should you have to pay to see a sick relative.
Complain about this comment
No, we should not have to pay for using carparks which have been purchased using our taxes. Maintaining carparks should be the funded in the same way as maintenace of buildings. There is also a problem in knowing how long topay for due to unpredicable waiting times.
Complain about this comment
although it might seem that car parking is unjust but car parks have to be maintained. It is hoped that these costs are off set by the charges and the access is then put into patient care which would otherwise be somewhat less to maintain the car parks at the highest quality that is required.
It must also be noted that many patients and their relatives etc are duly entiled to either free or subsidised parking.
remember that national policy and targets have to be meet by all NHS trusts.
look at the local rates etc for what is being charge.
Our Local Hospital has 30min free and a very special rate for certain patients and carers.
Complain about this comment
Hospital Parking
I am really getting a little fed up with whinging motorists, they are the most pampered section of society who complain about (their) rising costs when the facts show the cost of motoring have actually reduced in the past 12 months.
Now they have the absolute nerve that hospitals should charge them 32 for parking. Let me say I am a motorist and I have had cause to have to park at both the Heartlands and Solihull on a regular and an irregular basis. It is expensive but so it should be. The cost of construction maintenance and security has to come in the first instance from NHS funds i.e. PATIENT CARE is deprived of this capital in the first instance. I for one would rather have this money spent on PATIENT CARE and of course the amount of land take for car parking at all hospitals is greater than that for PATIENT CARE adding further to hospital costs.
The financial burden of these charges is not denied however what about those without cars. Well the OFF peak bus fare is £1 so the cost is £2 (more in the peaks) for the return journey.
But those who come by bus do NOT cost the hospital a penny in car park cots and of course do not burden the hospital with extra costs required for land purchase for car parks. Furthermore their journey could often take two buses to get their i.e. £4 for the return journey. To cap it all the bus journey probably takes a great deal longer than that by car and is especially difficult in inclement weather.
In these days of Climate Change the cost to the environment by those who get to hospital by bus/train is also less.
So I do wish our MPs would stop 'hugging' the motorist, take a more honest and balanced view of costs/benefits of increased car park charges at hospitals and be fair to ALL those who have to visit hospitals either as patient or visiting patients.
Note: my wife spent about a week in Heartlands, it would take me two buses to get there and a journey of about one-hour. Being a selfish motorist I drove there, being a less selfish but thinking motorist I drove there (20 minutes) paid my car parking charges, thought 'this is ****** expensive', thought about the alternatives - less money for patient care, journey time (on foot or by bus), blinked once or twice and then drove home happily, especially on the day I took my wife home.
So Motorists stop whinging, or tell me which hospital services YOU WOULD CUT to pay for your parking. You cause pollution, You cause accidents, all adding to the number of people in hospital and NHS costs. If you had to pay your full costs you would have real cause to moan. [Personal details removed by Moderator]
Complain about this comment
I have a daughter with cystic fibrosis, we have just spent 2 weeks visiting the hospital daily for very necessary treatment, I was able to buy a weekly parking ticket for 15 pounds. I really object to this payment, it is a large regional hospital in a rural area - nobody parks there unless they need to be at the hospital. Why should Wales and Scotland have preferential treatment?
Complain about this comment
I think all hospital parking charges are ridiculous. I'm a doctor and have to pay to park at work despite having to have a car as part of my contract to fulfil my on-call commitments. It should be abolished for patients, visitors and staff.
My hospital only allows staff parking on an either all or nothing basis. I take the train to work and only require my car when on-call, however I still have to pay the monthly price in order to have the parking place one day a week.
Complain about this comment
I've never heard such a load of rubbish which makes me loose even more confidence for the goverment.
I've spent an apsolute fortune at hospital car parking due to births and ill health in my family and feel it is just another stealth tax imposed by the goverment which is failing us.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I now live in Spain and we dont pay to park in the hospitals car parks, thats national health and private.
Complain about this comment
When having my 2 children, the hospital gave us a free parking permit to use while i was in labour, however since then if my one of my children have been taken ill, i've had to worry about finding change when i should be finding them help! A trip 2 a&e with my 5 yr old was delayed because a parking warden made me drive aross the carpark to find a working payment meter!
Complain about this comment
i ecently had a baby and after a traumatic labour ended up in hospital longer than just 24 hours. they then could not discharge me on the day they wanted o as they needed to check the baby over. having paid £15 for 5 days we were pleased to get home. we then were readmitted for 4 days and nother £15 per day!
£135!! i knew new born babies were expensive but thats rediculous!!!
Complain about this comment
I broke my knee a few years ago, I was in A + E for 6 hours and if that wasn't bad enough, as the hours went on, so did the money out of my mother's purse, until the point that she had no change. The prices were outrageous and in-appropriate, the car parks should just be there, free, no charge. Especially when you're sitting in A + E waiting for hours to be seen.
Outrageous.
Complain about this comment
They need to charge to pay for the car park????? WHAT A JOKE....How much does it cost to run a flat tarmac square???? Does that guy think we are totally stupid or what???? THEY DONT EVEN HAVE SECURITY TO LOOK AFTER YOUR VEHICLE, AND THEY DONT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR PROPERTY.....Day light robbery of the sick, their families and friends.
Complain about this comment
I am very uneasy about hospitals charging for parking however I used to work at a hospital that was half a mile from a city centre. The city centre car parks are busy and expensive, so people working in the city centre parked at the hospital and staff and patients just couldn't park.
The problem for this hospital is that if the parking is free
or cheap, the same problem will occur.
Just pointing out that this is not a straightforward issue.
Complain about this comment
As a disabled man, I am disgusted with my local Hospital's pay to park scheme. All of the disabled bays are inside the pay car parks, yet according to my blue badge, I should get 3 hours free parking. For some reason the hospital has the power to go against a government approved scheme, and expects disabled drivers to pay for parking as well as proving that they are disabled. I.e: We still have to display our badges. The hospital in question is the Luton and Dunstable Hospital.
Complain about this comment
I dont understand the comment that dropping parking charges means subsidising from monies which would otherwise be used for patient care. Surely the provision of parking is something which is part of the original plan of a hospital (for those newer built facilities). The provision of parking is surely a one off bill and yet it appears to be repaid constantly during the lifespan of a hospital.
Complain about this comment
I have been attending Wrightington hospital near Wigan for outpaitent treatment for the last 3 years, once or twice a week. Car parking charges have just risen again, to £2 for 6 hours. There is no option to pay for the hour - an hour and a half that I need. I don't think I'd be as annoyed if the money was used to support the hosptial and benifit patients. However, it isn't. It goes to a private car parking company. At last I have just discovered that I am entitled to concessionary parking. However, I had to investigate this with the car park company after the latest price rise. I advised the hosptial that this option was available to patients. I think patients should be given concessionary parking for themselves or their relatives if an in-patient. Also, any money charged for parking should be used to the benefit of the hospital, not to line the pockets of private car companies.
Complain about this comment
I have recently been in Hospital The Churchill hospital in Oxford and my husband came to visit every day. It cost him £3 for 4 hours and that was twice the day I got admitted. He could have got a pass which entitled him to 7 days parking for £8 but we couldnt get one as no-one could tell us how long I was going to be in. I was in for almost a week.
My mother was also taken in last year to a diff hospital, The John Radcliffe OXford for emergency surgery again, I was not told how long she was going to be in for as it turned out 3 weeks. It cost me nearly £80 in parking charges. Thankfully she is ok now.
[Personal details removed by Moderator]
Complain about this comment
I feel sorry for the first contributors whose mother died whilst getting a ticket BUT I suggest that in most towns and cities selfish parkers would have meant that they could not even get into the Hospital car park.
Its sad how many people want to contribute to the debate - I wonder IF they have ever bothered contributing to the debate about patients having to pay for drugs that save /extend their lives
SHAME ON YOU!
Complain about this comment
I have just watched your programme and it mentioned that Northern Ireland has no charges for parking when visitng people who are seriously ill.
Three weeks ago I sat with my Father who had a heart attack and was there for over eight hors each day.
My parking for that week was over £40 and no-one ever mentioned to me that I could complete a form to ensure that I didn't have to pay for my parking, so in my opinion its ok for hte minister to say we have free parking but if no-one is told about it I think this is a farce!
Complain about this comment
I think there should be a charge for parking in hospital car parks to stop people who work locally abusing free parking and restricting the number of parking spaces for those who need them.
Areas of hospital car parks should be set aside for close relatives of patients.
You should receive a free parking permit when relatives are admitted to hospital which then expire when the patient is discharged.
Complain about this comment
Get real - if you can afford to run a car you can afford to pay to park. This a tax on car owners. If you work in a town centre you pay to park - why shouldn't nhs workers? If you don't want to pay to park then get the bus, a taxi, walk, cycle or get a lift! For those not well enough the non-emergency ambulance service is available.
People do not complain about paying to shop - where you are paying to spend your money - but they moan about paying to park at hospital. The whole thing is ridiculous. Cars are not cheap to run and parking is a cost all car owners must expect to incur in the real world.
Complain about this comment
I’m a pensioner and a cancer patient. I’m also eligible for Pension Credit and hence am entitled to help with health costs. This means that when I travel to hospital, I should be able to claim from the hospital for a partial refund of my costs.
In fact, the cancer hospitals I have attended will not refund car parking charges, and will only give an allowance of 10p or 13p per mile for fuel costs!!
When petrol was as much as £1.15 per litre, that allowance is a pittance!1
One wonders how much MPs claim for travel costs!
My problem is, I’m old and live in England!!
Complain about this comment
As a disabled person I find public transport a complete nightmare plus much of my local public transport doesn't go to the right places. So you may understand that not only am I disgusted at ANYONE paying for parking at a hospital but even more so that the disabled are also charged.
I am reliant on my car and as my disability is caused by a chronic illness have a large number of appointments to keep. Yet dispite what was said on your show tonight I have never been given help with charges and the reason I am given is that the disabled are no different from others using the car park and most of us can afford it.
No we can't. The charges are astronomical and are just a "sick tax"!
Complain about this comment
I've just watched a Labour minister justifying parking charges as being a legitimate fee to cover expenses.
Why then are the car parking fees at hospitals so high? What makes their car parks more expensive than any other level bit of tarmac in a car park in town?
His statement about the person whose Mother had died whilst they fed the machine was, as far as I'm concerned, insulting. Complaining after the fact is too late in these situations, her mother died whilst this poor person was trying to pay the car parking fee. For goodness sake when did the Labour party abandon compassion?
I've visited people in hospital and the car parking fees are something that I would have expected from the Conservatives, not the Labour party.
Or, is there any difference now?
Complain about this comment
my dad was in hospital from march until july this year with abrain tumour and then caught c diff from the ward and ended up in itu for 5 weeks as well. 2 hrs parking was £2.30 and as one of 2 daughters they had £4.60 per day for about 20 weeks.
This equated to about £600. if we had paid for tv each day at £3.00 just imagine the costs it would have been thousands
Complain about this comment
I took my young baby to A&E after hours of constant screaming, I took myself and my baby but no money, purse or anything, after he was treated I couldn't leave as I had no money to pay to get my car out of the car park! I had to beg to get out of there. Further to this, especially in emergency instances surely it is cheaper to provide free parking rather than people using the Ambulance services as taxis to avoid paying to park. I called for an ambulance 3 times when my son split his leg open and had to take a taxi as I didn't have enough for the car park, good job too cos I was in hospital overnight as he had to have an operation.
Complain about this comment
I understand that hospitals need to pay for the upkeep of their parking facilities.
However, when you have to visit for an appointment and are travelling there after going to work you sometimes have no option but to take the car with you. being charged £6 for the priviledge of having tests done is ludicrous.
I understand that some car parks have people parking there who are not attending the hospital. Surely it is possible to validate the parking vouchers on production of a valid appointment card or details of someone you are visiting and if we have to pay why does the price have to be so high. A flat rate of £1 per visit would be ample to cover their costs (this is what St Richard's in Chichester used to charge before they increased their charges because people were parking in the hospital to go shopping).
Complain about this comment
I think it's going to be a losing battle getting councils in England to abolish hospital parking charges.
So how about altering charges to at least lessen some of the pain:
1. Free parking for NHS employees
2. A wider range of charges and times, eg pay for 30mins, 1hr, 2hrs etc
I mention part 2 because my wife had several weeks of treatment at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford 2 years ago, each appointment lasted 30mins and the lowest charge time was 3hrs!
Complain about this comment
My Partner is an Occupational Therapist working at an NHS Hospital. Like so many NHS employees, she works in a woefully understaffed department and very difficult conditions for an inadequate salary. When she then has to pay every day to park her car at work I think it is a total disgrace, particularly as she is actually expected to maintain and use her own car for the job so that she can go on visits to patients homes!
Complain about this comment
Hospital parking charges are a scandalous tax on the sick and (usually) pensioners, often rewarding hospitals for service inefficiency and poor communication. And what is the connection between hospital parking charges and access to GP services that Ben Bradshaw claimed? He is scraping the bottom of the barrel to claim such ridiculous nonsence.
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Your campaign on hospital parking in interesting and one which is very topical. I am a student nurse and consequently have to do placements in my local hospital for periods of 5 weeks at a time. I live 17 miles away from my placement and with the nature of my shifts there is no way that I can travel back and forwards using public transport. Therefore when I am on placement I have to use my car and therefore I have to park at the hospital. This costs me £6 per day - as I work 5 days this adds up to £30 a week. As I am only on a bursary of less than £600 per month this is a considerable proportion of my money. The alternative for parking would be to park in a local residential road but as I start work and 7am and finish sometimes at 10pm this is not safe as many of the local roads are not lit - plus the fact that most of the roads have residents parking schemes it is not feasible.
Whilst I have great sympathy with patients and visitors please do not forget the poor students who do not have ANY choice in the matter. Many permanent staff have concessionary passes or free passes for staff car parking - but unfortunately as students these are not available to us.
The Royal College of Nurses is currently running a campaign to stop staff having to pay - any publicity for this campaign would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot.
[Personal details removed by Moderator, also, Note from Watchdog team: It is The Nursing Times publication who are running a campaign to stop nurses having to pay for parking, regards, Mariam Abu-Hejleh, web team]
Complain about this comment
I think parking costs in hopsital car parks is rediculous.
I was visiting my dad in hospital with my mum amd we couldn't completely relax because of the constant worry of having to top up the car parking ticket, or face getting a fine which was the last thing we needed.
Can't the government help up - they have enough money!!
Complain about this comment
I was shocked to hear the MP on your programme defend the hospitals who charge parking for patient. To suggese that Money spent by the hospitals on car parking means that much less is going to patient care is pathetic. If such is the case then I sure as shooting will not be voting Labour at the next election
I am 66 and have heard some hot air emanating from the mouths of politicians but this guy wins the Gold Medal for Claptrap
MF
Complain about this comment
what about hospital nurses, they have to pay for the privilage of working there. i work for a local primary care trust, If a ward asks me to see apatient for advice, I have to pay to park to see the patient. If I am doing a course at the hospital for my patients benefit, I again have to pay
Complain about this comment
I AM A NURSE AT A BUSY HOSPITAL. THE COST OF PUBLIC PARKING HAS DOUBLED THIS YEAR ALONE. I HAVE HAD PENSIONERS TELL ME THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO KEEP COMING IN TO SEE THEIR LOVED ONE. ALSO PLEASE DON'T FORGET THE STAFF AT MOST NHS HOSPITALS HAVE TO PAY TOO. WE HAVE BEEN PAYING 50P PER SHIFT SO THATS NOT TOO BAD, BUT THE COST IS JUST ABOUT TO RISE TO £1.20 PER SHIFT. AND OF COURSE YOU CAN GET INTO THE CAR PARK BUT ON THE WAY OUT IT'S PAY OR STAY!TYPICAL...
Complain about this comment
I don't agree with the fact that hospital charges should be abolished totally. I think there should be a period of free parking for around an hour then a 24hr charge of some where in the region of 2 to 4 pounds. The problem we have in our area is that the hospital is so close to the town centre, that when the parking was free the car park was always full as people parked there to save money in town. Since there has been charges there has always been spaces. I couldn't imagine anything more annoying at visiting time as to spend half of that time waiting for a space because people have selfishly used the free facilities for there own gain.
Complain about this comment
I was disgusted to see that you gave a platform to that so called servant of our nation who tried to justify the THIEVING politicians who rip off patients and their visitors at vulnerable times in their lives. Of course he claimed it was the Hospital authority's fault that the woman died on her own, while her daughter went to feed the metre. It is a stealth tax that should never have been started.
Disgusted Tunbridge Wells
Complain about this comment
When car parking charges were introduced at the hospital where I work, I decided to leave the car at home and walk! Why should we pay £70 per year to park at our place of work? I was lucky enough to be able to take the option of walking to work, most of my colleagues aren't, but even when they have the money taken straight from their salary, they aren't guaranteed a car parking space - daylight robbery! I think it is the most talked about topic at work as trying to simply find a space can cause real stress and leads to confrontation with the parking attendants who are about as much help as a chocolate fireguard! Surely there is enough public opinion to get something done about hospital parking charges. Obviously the MP's don't listen to the voice of the public who voted them into office.
Complain about this comment
I would inform you that the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro charge for Disabled Parking!
My granddaughter was diagnosed with cancer in April 2008, and as grandparents, we visited her on a daily basis.
This can cost up to £10 per day or £40 per week.
I think is is disgraceful that they can charge for Disabled Parking.
Complain about this comment
I watched the programm and listed to EVERY word he said about hospital parking. Can I say, I really don't understand how hospital parking is "subsidised"!! If they made all parking free, it doesn't mean that someone is paying for it out of their pocket! It doesn't cost anything to park your car in a car park.... it's not like its costing electricity, gas or even any wages ETC!! How can he sit there and say that they are using the money to make the NHS service better.... its a load of rubbish! Oh and I waited 4 maybe 5 hours in an English NHS A&E waiting room - and they say that there service is better because they charge car park fees???
Complain about this comment
Its NOT true that parking will is 'free' in scotland
for those staff and patients and visitors unfortunate enough to need to go to a PFI hospital there is no plan to lift parking charges - and it is at these sites that the charges tend to be extortionate
the land is owned by the private company and they use it as a cash making scheme NOT a way of generating money for the NHS - the money from these schemes goes straight into the pockets of private companies and IF the hospital wants to offer certain people 'free' parking at these sites then the NHS PAYS money to the private company for the privelege.
The minister you had on doesnt have a bloody clue - this is about the NHS loosng money to private schemes not about the NHS 'loosing' a source of revenue.
Virtually all new hospitals are private funded - when old nhs sites are shut and the new PFI's open across scotland parking charges will suddenly reappear.
My experience having worked in hospitals across the whole of scotland over a number of years has been (before the SNP tried to claim it was being radical and erasing injustices)that the NHS owned sites either didnt charge anyway or only charged a small amount(usually in the region of £1 for a few hours to £4 for a day). My experience of those sites that are PFI is that they charge in the region of a few pounds for an hour upto huge amounts (£15+) for stays upto 24hrs or so.
The SNP hasn't changed thing in Scotland at all! Realistically it affects the very SMALL number of NHS sites that previously charged. The cash-making, extortionate PFI's (which is where the main problem lies regarding injustice to patients/visitors) still continue to steal money away from it's employees, patients and visitors.
Complain about this comment
I work in local general hospital, which used to have free parking, as it has a lot of land and is nowhere near any shops or other facilities. As I understand, the car parks are run by a private company. Members of staff are charged £12:50 per month to park and patients members of the public etc pay an hourly/daily rate. The private company collects the money and the hospital sees none of it! The money they collect goes towards parking wardens and maintenance(which is laughable as there are huge grat potholes in the staff car parks!) I think it is criminal to charge for parking and just goes to show what this government really stands for!
Complain about this comment
staff at warrington hospital pay £96 per yr for a parking permit, but r not guarenteed a parking place there r 2000 staff , if half come by car £96000, rip off britain strikes again
Complain about this comment
I am a nurse completing a post regestration course and the university has an education centre within a local hospital. As I am not employed by the trust in question I am expected to pay £12.50 per day to park at the hospital. I am not a highly paid professional and I feel that the NHS gets enough from me without taking back my hard earned money. Not only that I have to pay for staff parking at the NHS trust where I work. I wonder if the general population realises how little NHS staff get paid for the responsibility and the more is taken away for parking in a staff car park.
Complain about this comment
I often have to visit hospitals as i have very severe asthma one of the hospitals i visit the Royal Brompton i would never dream of driving there as with the congestion charge, petrol and parking fee's i would be looking at nearly £30 for a couple of hours. Its expensive enough getting there by public transport.
The local hospitals in my area Hillingdon are so expensive to park, i visited a friend late one night stayed for one hour cost to me £4 and i couldn't get out of the hospital as they had locked the exits. Most of the time you can't even get into the carpark to park let alone pay over the odds for it. But the last time i parked at Mount Vernon for a 20minute appointment cost to me £1.20! Its barmy! My local council offer 30mins free parking in most of their car parks all except hospitals which can be anything up to £3 an hour. They should definitly lower the charges and have a country wide fee.
Complain about this comment
How could Julia let Ben Bradshaw off the hook so easily. Surely the point is that the Government should be funding free hospital parking by putting more money into the health service, not using the excuse that if the hospitals themselves give free parking it would be at the cost of a reduction in the services they provide to the patient. What utter rubbish. If the Government can plow billions to bail out banks and prop up the economy, they HAVE the money to put the additional finance into the health service to pay for free parking for all
Complain about this comment
I don't mind paying a small amount to park in the hospital. If it was £2-£3 for the day I would be happy to pay this. But the prices they charge are ridiculous. Why should we have to pay for the fact that someone we know and love is unwell or having a baby! They could give you up to an hour free and then charge £2-£3 for anything over that! The fact that people don't know how long they will be means they have to be back and forth feeding a meter when they should be by the side of the person they are there to visit or should be in care if it's them that needs to be there! The hospital near us shouldn't have to worry about anyone who is not a member of staff or visiting parking there as there are no businesses near by for people to take advantage! People can barely cope in this time as it is without having to suffer that expense too!
Complain about this comment
My son has severe asthma and can get really ill in literally minutes so we end up in the hospital quite a bit but as we're a low income family i can't afford the hospital parking charges so i spend ages trying to find somewhere to park close by that is free or risk getting caught with a parking fine that i just can't pay sometimes i worry that the time i take trying to find a parking space so we don't have to go without something important one month could be the difference between hospitalisation and just a quick check he is okay and gets the necessary antibiotics to take at home
Complain about this comment
The politician on the programme tonight was, to put it politely, talking through his hat, and evading the real issues.
Parking charges in hospitals are not a viable way for Trusts to make income. Paying Car Parks come with costs. People have to be employed to empty the meters. The meters have to be maintained, and replaced when they are worn out or vandalised.
The parking charges can surely only cover these costs? Otherwise why would local authorities now be seeking to put their public car parks out to private concerns?
Some local authorities actually do offer free car parking in their town centres. Two I can think of are Morley and Bolsover. I don't think they are making a great loss from it.
The other point is, why are hospital car park charges so much more than public and private ones? Maybe just to make sure they do make a profit out of people who have no option other than to park there? Which takes us the moral issue of making a profit out of people's pain and suffering.
Complain about this comment
I can see both sides of the argument, in that I had to spend over 50.00 in a week visiting my wife whilst she was having brain surgery, which was distressing time for the whole family. This was cost charged at a discounted rate as the hospital concerned did offer a lower charge as I was partner of the patient. However before my local hospital brought in charges the car park was used by commuters who used the free parking and thus limited the amount of space available for users of the hospital. This resulted on one occasion with my having to park illegally when I took my daughter to hospital with suspected menegitis, resulting in the security staff having to get me to move car, when my priority should have been being with my daughter. It seems to me that there is a simple solution in that car parks keep charges in place, but for patients and visitors they could be given tokens to meet the charge. Those that abuse the hospital parking facility would then still have to pay.
Complain about this comment
My Partner was an employee of the Aintree NHS trust Hospital in Liverpool and paid for parking at work.
She was subjected to action by the security firm managing the parking regime there, who ignored the hospital parking policy for staff and attempted to fine her for parking illegally, which she appealed.
She had no response from either them or the Chief executive at the hospital, and the next thing she knew, the baliffs turned up at her elderly mother's house demanding payment.
The company had referred the matter to the County Court (in Kendal) and registered a CCJ against her. When we engaged a barrister to have the matter referred they dropped the case, but my partner now has a CCJ registered against her credit record which is proving impossible to remove.
If the Hospitals treat their staff like this, what hope do the general public have?
[Note from Watchdog web team. Aintree NHS Trust says:
"Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust manages its own car parks for staff. Staff working up to 21 hours are charged £10 per month, while those working 21 hours and over are charged £15 per month, which they can elect to pay direct from their pre-tax salary.
Circumstances in which staff might be fined are displayed prominently within the site, but can include parking in restricted areas, e.g. disabled spaces; parking on double yellow lines; not parking within a designated space; and failing to display a bonefide pay and display or other parking permit."
Best regards, Mariam Abu-Hejleh, web team]
Complain about this comment
Unfortunately my wife was recently taken ill and it will take a good while for her to recover. The Staff at the Horton Hospital in Banbury are absolutely brilliant, but they and the visitors are beholden to the dreaded pay and display parking charges.. exact money only, minimum £2.00, £7.00 for six hours or more per day. The nurses gave me a long term permit application (as mentioned by Ben Bradshaw), however it's only available one per patient and has the number plate of the car recorded... so no allowance for family visitors. In any case I was directed to the facilities office to "apply" for this. On arrival at a ramshackled building with the front door swinging in the breeze there was a sign.. "no permits available today". Two days later I went back, the same sign was there, but the door was open so I went in. I met with a stern faced, charisma bypass, beurocrat who said that the office was closed because they were "off sick". So "what do I do" I said, "you'll have to buy a ticket like everyone else". So much for long term parking permits. So it seems the hospital were not rushing to put someone in the office to help because that may lose them money, and if only one is allowed per patient what is that if not ensuring that they still get money from most of the visitors! Further endorsement of this ridiculous situation was that a nurse was also trying to get a permit renewed, but she had to go away and presumable would have to keep feeding the meter instead of providing care where it was needed. By all means introduce some form of control into unauthorised parking (like supermarkets do) but don't use it to fund the NHS at at the expense of families who are probably already in hardship by the event requiring them to attend hospitals and maybe some are even losing wages by attending because of their love for the sufferer.
Complain about this comment
I live in the Forest of Dean and go to a hospital in Chepstow for dental treatment - I couldn't get on any NHS dentist lists in my own area in England but that is another story! I visited the dentist rcently,since the hospital carpark charges had been scrapped in Wales, but surely something was terribly wrong. There were not hundreds of vehicles badly parked in the neighbouring residential area, no 4x4 drivers desperately trying to park in a smartcar sized space and guess what - loads of spaces in the hospital carpark - what joy and I didn't have to pay a penny for the privilege of arriving unstressed and in plenty of time for my appointment.
Complain about this comment
As far as I can see there is only some hospitals that have stoped the parking charges. The Glasgow
Royal still charge as it cost me £2.80p to vist a friend there. I could have parked out on the street but I had too far to walk and I can't walk to far so I was told that people with a disable badge did not have to pay but I had to cough up that amount.
Complain about this comment
After visiting my Nan in Hospital for 7 weeks, twice a day the cost of car parking quickly grew.
The Hospital used a ‘take a ticket on entry – pay on exit’ and was a £1 an hour. The charges were originally started because of the commuters using the free parking facilities of the hospital to catch the train to London. I did’t mind paying a reasonable charge to park as the car park was well lit and patrolled by security staff, which was reassuring to myself often leaving the ward at night. However I learnt:-
? if I left after 8.00pm then the barrier was raised and therefore car parking was free.
? There was a day ticket available from the car park office for the cost of £1.50 to come and go as many times in a 24 hour period.
? There was a month long free car parking pass available for those visiting long term patients. A form needed to be completed by the visitor and signed by the senior nurse.
None of the above was advertised so it may be worth checking if any of these options are available at your Hospital.
Complain about this comment
Re: the disgusting car parking charges in hospitals. I have had 7 operations on my left arm and am on Incapacity Benefit and had to pay £20 at St George's Hospital in Tooting for car parking fees per visit. I view the Health Minister's comments to be, as usual, totally out of touch with the real world. Wouldn't it be more cost effective if you have an appointment card that you do not pay to visit the hospital, as we have no alternative way of getting there. You would not like to come out of hospital after an operation and get on a bus. The Minister did not explain where the money goes in the upkeep of car parks. It is just as commented a cash cow for the least able to pay.
Yours sincerely
Wild Morrison
Complain about this comment
once again a labour goverment mp lieing lie after lie .the hospital charges were not there before we do not need them now its a cruel way to make money. making peoples lifes who have it hard allready even harder .this goverment has done nothing but make our lifes in this country harder and harder.thats why people are sick to death of labour
Complain about this comment
I think it is incredibly stupid that Hospital Parking charges in Scotland are about to be abolished. This effectively means that staff have the use of the parks and the out patients and visitors have to look elsewhere to park. I have friends who were visiting, on a regular basis, a patient in a Glasgow hospital they were given a note which meant that they parked free, surely this is the way to go. I know from experience that from January next year there is no hope of being able to park at most Glasgow hospitals after 8AM. Parking in the early evening is slightly better. I have spoken to a patient who was attending regularly and he was delighted when the charges started because he could park in the hospital grounds at a small cost. Why must the patients or relatives be hit hard so that staff benefit?
Complain about this comment
Please don't think it is just the general public that get ripped of by the NHS. We recently delivered some heavy medical equipment to Bristol Royal Infirmary. The old building has a long staircase at the front and the only goods access is at the rear. We telephoned the Estates department for permission to park and offload. This was granted and while delivering the goods two hospital car park attendants watched us struggling to offload the goods on a tail lift. When we returned to the vehicle after 20 minutes we found our vehicle had been clamped. We were fined £60 and they would not remove the clamp without payment. We were told to appeal and was then told the wrong department had given us permission to park, we should have asked Facilities!
Complain about this comment
OUR LOCAL HOSPITAL AT NORTH WALES GLAN CLWYD IS MILES AWAY FROM ANY SHOPS ECT SO THE CAR PARK CAN NOT BE EXPLOITED I VISITED THE HOSPITAL A&E WITH A VERY SICK CHILD AND I HAD TO LEAVE HIM UNATTENDED TO PICK A CAR PARK TICKET AND AT 23.00 HOURS AT THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT THE CAR PARK WAS EMPTY, I STILL HAD TO PAY, ITS A RIP OFF BRITIAN A BIG CON THE NHS HAS TO PAY THE CAR PARK COMPANY TO RUN THE DAM SYSTEM
Complain about this comment
My first concern is with the charges for patients and their visitors, but I have read a lot of comments here about health care workers having the same sorts of problems.
I have visited a lot of hospitals in the last twenty years for one reason or another, and most of them do seem to have a lot of parking space. Would it not make sense to allocate one of those areas for the staff who work there?
I know I would be much happier to be treated by a nurse or doctor who had just been frazzled by not finding the right change to put into the meter. They do work long and hard hours. Why do we make them pay for parking, when people in the financial sector get free parking in the middle of cities?
Complain about this comment
When I was a member of the Patients Council car parking consistuted biggest number of complaints we got as we the visited all the departments within all the Hospitals. these broke down into 3 main categories.
Cost, Availability, Ethics.
availability was always a issue. People always complained about cost, but many accepted it subsidised the trust and helped with running costs. But most were furious when they found out that the hospital Trust in fact got very little out of each £1 they put in the meter. The hospital provided all the ground and tarmac. The car parking company provided a few machines and a few staff. We the Patient Council members tried on many occasions to get the parking issue run "IN House" by trust staff. which would have meant engaging less that 10 in total . And let all the surplus money go into Hospital coffers. but were always shouted down.
Parking money paid by the public amounted to Millions . But the hospital trust collected peppercorn rent money. I have forgotten the real figures, and have now destroyed all my paper work. But it was a real money spinner for the company running the car parks , including clamping. Sheffield being the "clamping capital of Britain". And now the staff cannot park on site without paying extortionate fees , and clutter the local streets 24/7 And for those who wonder why I "was" (past tense) a Patient Council Member a purely voluntary position. The Patients Council ( who represented patients to the governors) was dissolved. I was thrown out for being to out spoken. Most of the others were never given another position where they could carry on doing their voluntary contribution.
although the Trust continues to advertise for volunteers. It maybe got too good at what it was doing after 15 years experience.
Complain about this comment
When charges were in place at wrexham hospital it was easy to park and just £1 for up to two hours. If a patient was at hospital for more than 2 hours due to a long wait in the hospital (not uncommon!) any penalty charges would be waived. Now that charges have been abolished it is a nightmare to park despite the town centre being some distance away. Bring back charges in Wales
Complain about this comment
having worked in the NHS for over 40 years I can remember a time when there was no charges .Perhaps rather than looking at the charges watchdog should look not at the NHS but rather at the cost of parking in the area surrounding many of our hospitals . In all but a few cases hospital parking charges reflect those of the district that the hospital they are in . In many cases free hospital parking leads to no parking for staff and patients as the spaces are filled by those going shopping or to their employment outside of the NHS , Also in many places unattended carparks are the domain of thieves necessetating the need for attendants to be employed causing a drain on budgetts . Also there is with the growing numbers of car users an increased need for parking space and where land is at a premium it can become a choice between carparks and space for facitities for the treatment of patients I agree there should be no charges but
What comes 1st care of patients or carparks ?
Complain about this comment
I work in an nhs hospital and pay a monthly fee for parking. This does not guarantee me a parking space, but IF I SHOULD PARK SOMEWHERE I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO (e.g. an area for visitors and patients, I WILL BE FINED £20!! I arrive at the hospital by 8 am every morning so that I can get a parking space. The hospital do not take any responsibility for any loss or theft of vehicles left in the car park.
The hospital has one entrance at the front and one at the back and I think they could come up with a method of admitting staff, visitors and patients without any charges.
Complain about this comment
At 7:52pm on 27 Oct 2008, Ree-Dawes wrote:
I broke my knee a few years ago, I was in A + E for 6 hours and if that wasn't bad enough, as the hours went on, so did the money out of my mother's purse, until the point that she had no change. The prices were outrageous and in-appropriate, the car parks should just be there, free, no charge. Especially when you're sitting in A + E waiting for hours to be seen.
Maybe the hospitals should operate the same system as the supermarkets? If you are using our facilities you can park free for a limited time?
Complain about this comment
our daughter is due to go in to the B'Ham Childrens Hospital in the next few weeks for a big op which may mean she is for 3-4 weeks. This will potentially mean a parking cost of £10 per day just so i can be by her side along with my wife. i think we have enough to worry about with our daughter never mind the expense of parking especially when i would prefer to spend that money on my daughter for being such a brave girl.
Complain about this comment
I don't drive, so my comments on parking should be irrelevant. Except that I do need lifts from friends when the hospital is 3 hours and four bus rides away.
When my mother was dying, my sister drove well over a hundred miles to park in the hospital car park for at least eight hours. She didn't think anything of it because she was concerned about her mother, and I didn't think, because I was using taxis and buses and begging lifts at that time, because it was a desperate situation.
My husband drove himself to the hospital when he didn't feel well, thinking he would be in and out. We then had to organise someone to collect his car before it was clamped.
If you go as a visitor, to visit a new baby, or someone with minor surgury, you have to pay for two hours parking, even though you may only get twenty minutes at the bedside because of visitor restrictions.
There are different degrees, but none of this is conducive to helping the people who are ill, or their relatives.
The NHS celebrated its 60th birthday this year. Perhaps it is time to put its current policies in a geriatic ward? And wonder if anyone will visit, because they cannot afford the parking!
Complain about this comment
A tax on the sick and their relatives. By all means charge, but have a cap of say, £2.50 a day, tops.
Complain about this comment
Hospital parking charges are a discrace. The last thing you want to do when you visit a sick or dying relative is clock watch and be worried about feeding the meter.
Also if you follow a relative in an ambulance to A&E your priority is with the person, not to find a meter and work out how long you'll need to put on.
Complain about this comment
Ben Bradshaws views in relation to parking fees at NHS hospitals are feeble. If NHS can spend well over £50 million per annu for interpreters to help migrant people get NHS treatment for which they have not contributed a penny, he can surely abolish the parking charges. What would his reaction/excuse be to this question?
Complain about this comment
It is right that patients and visitors have to pay to park their cars. If this was not the case it would be totally unfair on people who do not have cars and have to pay to travel by bus or taxi etc to get to the hospital. Also as the Minister said on tonights programme if car parking was free it would divert money from other services where it is needed and patients would suffer.
Complain about this comment
I feel that one of the issues is the mis-use of Hospital car parks by people who do not have business at the hospital. I nour town the Hospital is a few minutes walk from the town centre. All the official car parks charge and on street parking is very limited. Until the Hospital started charging vistors/patients/staff often were unable to park in the grounds. It is right for the hospitals to discourage this sort of abuse. It is not beyond the abilities of some form of validation system that allows those with valid reasons to be using the Hospital to be given some form of authorisation that exempts the car from charges. The freeloaders that use the hospital give much needed funding and those in genuine need are catered for.
Complain about this comment
My local hospital brought in charges for parking a few years ago - they originally stated that they were charging so they can maintain the upkeep of the car parks and to upgrade the security. Hmmm, if the potholes in the carparks were any bigger, they'd be using them to train the next generation of Olympic Swimmers! i haven't seen the spaces re-marked for a LONG time - the markings are practically none-existant now. As for security, I've not seen any improvements there either - cars are still getting broken into.
I don't object to paying a reasonable amount to park if the money was going towards what they said it would in the first place!
Complain about this comment
The reason for the charges to park at the hospitals in Edinburgh,was because of the MEAN car drivers.
I live close to the Western General Hospital. In the morning during the week around 8-9am People would drive to their work then park their vehicles in the hospital car park! and walk the rest of the way to work at premises near by and return around 5pm to collect their vehicles.
During the day members of the public attending the hospital have to leave their vehicles out on crewe road south on the yellow line and receive parking tickets.In a lot of cases their vehicles were inpounded.
I strongly disagree with people paying to park to see a doctor. The Royal infirmary is the worst!
I was at the A&E at 0120 and a member of the public asked the receptionist for change for the machine to get her car out. The reason for this is the GREEDY PRIVATE CONTRACTOR that ownes the car park and feels the need to victomise sick people and their famlies.
Complain about this comment
Here in Wales, the free parking has had an unexpected twist. As a result of it, one of the main Swansea hospitals is suffering from NON hospital visitors using their car park. The effect of this is that people with genuine reasons to visit the hospital, now cannot park, and have a nightmare driving round for ages.
Complain about this comment
I understand why the parking charges are in place, and am aware that special rebates are available for those who are ill long term, and for those visiting long-term ill patients. However, my partner has been in hospital since the beginning of July, the car park is charged at £3 for the first 4 hours, with a rebated rate of £8 per week. This is great, except for the following facts:
1. The fact that the rebated rate is available is not widely advertised. It was only after 6 weeks of daily hospital visits that I noticed a sign on a hospital notice board advertising the rebated parking charges.
2. The rebate is only available from the parking office at the hospital, open 9-4.30 monday-friday. Since I also work full time 50 miles from the hospital location, how on earth am I meant to take advantage of the rebated parking.
As it stands, I am now almost £400 out of pocket. If a rebate is going to be offered, it MUST Be made easier to obtain!
Complain about this comment
Weak management has to use charges~ Do you think Tesco's or Sainsburys would let commuters hog all the spaces? No they limit the time you can get free parking. It is a real vote loser for the government to allow this unregulated highway robbery and Healthcare managers must have their fiddles exposed. It is reminiscent of the bedside Telephone/TV Scam. If Hospitals cannot run a car park what chance of them being sufficiently competant to carry out proper medical treatment? Mr Bradshaw came over as a typical negative stooge with answers briefed to him by his department. It is time the so health managers were made more publically accountable with their bonuses related to patients treated not car park back handers
Complain about this comment
I have been visiting the Dental Hospital in Manchester every four to six weeks for a check up since August and this will probably continue for the next 18 months. As this is just a routine appointment I am only on site around half an hour - the minimum charge in their car park is £3 - this is absolutely scandalous. £3 for 30 minutes, how can they charge someone this?!
Complain about this comment
As an NHS employee I feel quite strongly that on last nights program the Health Minister was not allowed to make any of his very valid points without being shot down by your presenter.
A lot of hospitals are in city centres where parking is expensive - what is to stop people using hospital car parks whilst they do some shopping? Leaving sick people and their relatives unable to park. Also many hospitals need to employ security staff whose sole function is to prevent people from parking in disabled spots or blocking ambulance bays etc - the cost of parking has to reflect this activity also.
I agree that some parking charges are excessive but a fair capping of this is a better way to help people not a scrapping of charges all together!
Complain about this comment
As a Paramedic in the NHS I sympathise with relatives visiting patients in Hospital and being forced to pay through the nose for parking.
We (Ambulance Crews) are encouraged to treat patients at home where appropriate; arrange GP visits, District Nurse or alternative pathways for treatment. Not all patients are conveyed to hospital.
Where the family have a car and it would not be detrimental to the patient, we are expected to recommend the family take the patient to hospital in their car; thus freeing-up the ambulance for other 999 calls.
The down side of this is that once the car is parked, the patient is going to be in A+E for up to 4 hours, because 4 hours is the NHS time limit, by which time the patient must have been seen and treated. If the patient is then moved to another department the time is again extended (and the relatives parking bill can be very high).
Bearing this in mind, I am not alone in NOT asking the family to take the patient to hospital in their own car, because they cannot afford the parking fee. By using their own transport, they might be releasing the ambulance for another job, but they will then incurr a hefty bill.
Whatever the outcome of this topic, ANYONE taking a patient to hospital A+E departments should NEVER have to pay for parking, because they are helping the ambulance service by making the crews able to respond to others.
Complain about this comment
Just used the maternity car park at Stepping Hill, Stockport. £1.50 for 4hrs, £4.00 for a day. However you can only pay up until 23.59hrs. So you arrive at 22.00hrs, and pay your £1.50 (wont let you pay £4.00) ticket will only go as far as 23.59hrs. So you don't get your 4hrs, and then have no choice but to join everyone else outside at mid-night paying for your next day or 4hrs of parking!!!
Complain about this comment
why should those who have a pollution machine ,otherwise known as a motor car, selfishly expect those who for what ever reason ,don`t have one ,to subsidise it`s use through the funding of the NHS ?
And I do apreciate that there are some ,especially in the more rural parts of the country where public transport is limited or none existant who do need their own transport . However it would seem that many who complain are from urban arreas ,and take the attitude " I own a car so I have a right to drive and park it anywhere !
Complain about this comment
What about disabled children who don't qualify for a blue parking badge? My son has Down syndrome and Autism, and over the six years since he was born we have spent hundreds if not thousands on hospital parking. In his first few years he averaged at least one or two appointments a week because his health was generally quite poor. Considering disabled children are more likely to live in poverty than other children, this policy of charging for hospital parking affects the most vulnerable and the most in need of proper support.
Complain about this comment
Re: Lister Hospital, Stevenage.
They are going to charge disabled badge holders for parking if they cannot park in a designated Disabled bay. Previously they could park in any bay and, providing the blue badge was displayed, without charge. When my wife visits hospital, there are never enough Disabled bays.
It quite often follows that people with disabilities are frequent visitors to the hospital and a large number are pensioners.
I don't think parking charges should apply to anybody and they are certainly going too far by charging the disabled.
Complain about this comment
I am a staff nurse currently changing hospitals.I have been paying £21 pounds a month to park my car at my place o work ! The company is private and is making a fortune out of patients, visitors and staff. My new job do not charge sfaff but unfortunately do charge patients and visitors. Charges should be dropped as they are making money out of the sick and dying!
Complain about this comment
My Mother was in Fazakerley Hospital, L9, in June 07 for 5 weeks before she died. I was not told I could get concessionary parking, only people on all sorts of benefits get free parking, NOT the rest of us. I am retired, but get no benefits, so am not eligible for free parking.
Complain about this comment
The hospital car parking problem could be allievated by visitors PAYING ON DEPARTURE as one does at airports.
Complain about this comment
I was watching the other night and noted that nothing was mentioned about the charges for parking in the A. and E. department. So much is said about not calling ambulances unless you really have to, however, to drive to A. and E. then drive around to find a parking space (not easy) then walk with the injured person to A. and E. is rediculas and causes a lot of people I know to call ambulances when they could drive them there themselves. This I found a few months ago when I took my 6 year old son to the hospital with a head injury. As a single mum I was not able to get my son seen until I found a space (most of which were disabled with warnings of being clamped) When I finally found a space I then had to try and find change to pay the meter and all this before finally walking, the now greater distance, to get him seen. Waiting in A. and E. I was kept for a long time and regularly had to walk my son out to top up the meter. Is this fair? or right? is THIS the patient care they are saying they are saving money for?
The hospital in question is Selly Oak A. and E. in Birmingham.
[Personal details removed by Moderator] - Selly Oak, Birmingham.
Complain about this comment
i am pregnant and have a toddler it is not always easy to take the bus as the drivers only allow one buggy and then i miss my appointment or am late and have to reshedule, paying for parking is a real strain on my finances, what can ben bradshaw do to help people like me?
Complain about this comment
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Can someone explain why in town centres where we have a multistory car park where its several pounds every hour its sensible to have free hospital parking next door
Anyone think drivers will do the "decent" thing
BBC stop complaining about car parking and look at the HUGE BBC Licence fees
Complain about this comment
After getting my contact lens stuck in my eye i had no choice but to go up to the local hospital I was shocked to pay nearly four pound which only covered me for one hours parking there is plenty of spaces in the multi amounts of car parks that the hospital keeps building so they should make it free if you are using the emergency rooms or if you are visiting somebody who is a patient at the hospital if they cant make it free at least they should STOP RIPPING us off just so that the hospital trust can line their own pockets.
Complain about this comment
my son broke his wrist last week we waited over 3 hrs to be seen it cost me £3 to park then we had to come back for another appointment to have it put in a cast the next day we waited over two hours because the computer crashed it cost another £2 to park, i am on benefits i had to borrow the money, is that fair
Complain about this comment
wow i cant belive that some ppl are paying so much for hospital parking.
at the royal preston hospital you pay £1.50 for 24 hours YES £1.50
you can make a return visit too in this period the only problem is thatits very busy all day and its sometimes hard to find a space as the carparks do fill up quickly
and i have to say that the car park attendents are the most polite,helpful ppl u couldever meet
Complain about this comment
Royal Preston is also my local hospital, and yes they do charge on £1.50 per 24 hrs, but you can also see where some of those pounds are getting spent.
Nice new signs are at the entry to the hospital showing which car park has spaces, and for people who do not park within the rules the hospital trust is also fineing people, as reported in the local newspaper.
Perhaps the fee is too low as the car parks are nearly always busy.
Even the staff have been helped with "park and ride" facilites available.
If you are calling to scrap the fees for all think that developments that aid users might not happen and no money will be coming in to use in building additional spaces or as at this hospital run a park and ride.
I call for all monies raised from car parking to be forced into developments / improvments in the car parks that have raised the money, that way if you are paying to park and see a nicely maintained area then you know the money which has improved the area hasnt been taken from patient care.
Complain about this comment
what is not mentioned is the fact that only a percentage of the revenue goes to the hospitol, but the the greater goes to the private sector who manage it " nice little earner when its public land". to eliminate the charges would be like giving a £20 pw payrise to hospitol employees, which would help the next pay negotiations and keep real payrises down, immedietly a lot more savings than 100 million is clear, than what they gain.
This is another case of where the private sector is of no benefit to the NHS. The only group who benefit from carpark charge in hospitols are the private companies who run them, and will use every means to ]protect their interests.
Summing up,There are to many people on the taxpayers gravy train and are not being held properly accountable.
Complain about this comment
There has to be a sensible compromise. If there is no charge then there will always be people who will abuse the parking. But it is unforgiveable that families/friends of people who are genuinely sick and in need of as much company and help as possible are charged astronomical amounts for this (and often for chores that the staff should be doing but can't/won't for one reason or another).
I have a daughter who was in twice hospital for over a week. Without the worries over her health we had the additional concerns and costs of just paying to be with her at a time like that.
My mother was in hospital in extreme pain for almost 3 months before she died. My family and I tried to visit her every day. Why are we charged to comfort those most in need of help?
It can't be that difficult to arrange parking discs for those in genuine need. Instead it is too easy to keep stealing off people who have more important things on their minds than to protest about parking fees.
Complain about this comment
Very interesting program on the NHS hidden costs last night. I had the misfortune at the end of October to have a stroke at the end of a 6 month visit to the USA. Luckily I was fully insured and in California when this happened. At the time we were living in a camper van. I was treated at Sierra Vista hospital in San Luis Obispo.Yes the treatment is VERY expensive and so is insurance. But I was able to use my mobile phone in the hospital and my husband did not have to pay to park. Far from it it was valet parking and they saved him a space the week I was in and let him sleep in the van in the carpark. On the whole the food was excellent( I am a vegetarian and that has caused me problems in the past). On one occasion there was no food I would eat so they cooked a veggie soup just for me. Interestingly many nurses wanted to talk to us about the NHS as their healthcare is unaffordable to many but they have a lot of good things. My care was superb and now I am well on the way to full recovery.
Yvonne
Complain about this comment
My mother-in-law to be is a nurse at Treliske hospital in Cornwall. I found it obscene to find out that she has to pay for a parking pass to go to work! What shocked me even more is that she must buy two passes, one for when she is on day shift and one for when she does night shifts! How can this be fair? I understand that some people would take advantage of a free car park, but surely if this car park is dedicated to staff then there should be a system in place where their ID allows them entry. There should also be a system that allows genuine patients free parking.
Complain about this comment
Parking needs to me monitored otherwise commuters and non hospital workers may use the car park for free. Maybe a system where you get a free card to display if you are the patient or patients main carer who is using the hospital and for staff.
On the NHS it cant all be free. I think visitors should pay a visitor rate and people caught using the car park for non-hospital use should pay a high penalty fee.
Complain about this comment
I dont mind paying to park at our local hospital as it is only £2.00 for however long you stay.I once went into the hospital to visit a relative and the staff where selling raffle tickets,when I asked what the money was being used for they replied it was to buy new pillowcases for the ward.
Complain about this comment
my wife is a staff nurse at a nhs hospital,she has to pay up to £15 a day just park at the hospital where she works,its about time all staff where given permits to park at the hospitals that they work in they are on poor pay long hours and no surcurity when comeing off shifts in the early hours of the mornings and late in the evenings unless they park mile,s away from there place of work
Complain about this comment
When my girl friend who is now my wife was needing a hip operation im sure the amount of money that it cost for parking was by far more than the actual operation.This may sound odd but she was in back and forth for 5 or so years for check ups.
Complain about this comment
i am a hospital worker and i have to pay a pound a day to go to work that amounts to alot of my hard earned money over the course of the year.
i regulary see patients relatives having to keep going back to their cars to payn for parking.
i feel that this is a disrace people shouldnt have to pay to see their sick friends and relatives in hospital let alone staff
Complain about this comment
I think it is unfair of hospitals to charge an exhorbitant parking fee for patients and their family members. Taking a family member in for treatment is stressful enough as it is.
Complain about this comment
I think it is unfair that disabled drivers should have to pay,they are probaly on a low income,it is not there fault that they are there anyway.
Complain about this comment
this is a very difficult situation, because everyone can make a case as to why they should not have to pay for hospital parking. However hospitals very often use this money to provide for maintenance of the parking lots, as well as using surpluses to provide equipment in the hospital etc.. I come from Canada where we pay $10/hour to park, some to a maximum of $70/day (equivalent to £35/day) Therefore I am afraid I do not have sympathy to those who squabble over paying £3-£4 to park their car!
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS