You're right - hospital parking charges are a disgrace

27/06/2008

Hospital parking is indeed a mess as suggested by your readers, and steeped in bureaucracy and hypocrisy.

I was instructed by the doctor to take my late mother to A&E in what is now a strange town to me. I literally did that, following the only signs to A&E, with my late wife so they could get out together and mother could be escorted, and I could drive away and park.  

 

I was told off by the "Gestapo" (security) whilst these two elderly ladies were trying to get out of the car that I was obstructing (non-existent) ambulances - there were even several empty bays.

It seems the NHS do not value all the money they save by people providing hospital "runs" to their services. So the next time, a weekday, I left it to the ambulance service to get mother to hospital.

Not all hospitals are that bad, as some provide a short grace period for "pickup and drop" - which is seldom enough if the patient is frail and needs help. I think the new large hospitals are the worst, because they have become like airports, with nowhere to stop and miles of yellow lines. Who planned them like this?

At least one of the new hospitals has a helicopter pad on the premises, but not nearly enough car parking. I wonder which gets used most?

Name supplied

I empathise with your reader regarding the disgraceful parking tax levied by the NHS on the sick. This is yet another not-so-stealthy levy on those who have the misfortune to be ill and dependent upon what seems to be an increasingly bureaucratic NHS.

I too have to visit my local hospital on a regular basis, and I try park outside the hospital system and walk quite a distance  - despite back and heart problems.

The government appears to be committed to 'Polyclinics' which will replace local surgeries and cause more sick people to drive a long way for treatment by a stranger. Not only is this in direct conflict with both political party's 'Green' agenda, but I am prepared to wager the worst pension in Europe - ours - that these megastructures will cash in on inflated parking charges.

P. Smith (by email)