pslewis

Ending in Wales ..... I bet there are no charges in Scotland?

Now, I can see the point with Town Centre Hospitals where the Car Park is abused by those shopping or working ...... but, the patient could get a rebate when they see the surgeon in these cases.

My basic principle is that Hospital Car Parks should always be free ......

lozgti

Agreed.Cost me a bomb when the wife was giving birth.

Made me smile the fact that they get about £5 million from their own staff paying

SiPie

Wrong (again)

pslewis

That surprises me somewhat, I thought ScotLand would not have charges as they have free prescriptions and stuff?

But I was unsure ..... hence my QUESTION ..... not statement!

Mew

u can get the cost refunded if ur appointment is prolonged by doctors in the hospital.......

tho i never understood that no matter whenever my appointment was ie 9am on 12am, i would always get seen to just before lunch, and the same just before they go home word of advice from me, book ur appointments either 11.30-12 or 4.30-5 hahaha

SiPie

Wrong once again

Not for another 3.5 years

Scotland plans to axe prescription charges - Telegraph

I still pay £6.85

Tam the bam

since when? It's news to me.. oh no it's just you are WRONG again!

Snazy

lol someone is loosing their edge here me thinks.

I agree with the parking thing. Only problem is some selfish ***** use hospital car parks for shopping locally, as its "cheaper"
Patients and visitors could never park, and the prices just started climbing.

Now I think its just "the norm" to charge stupid rates to park there.
I tend to park locally and walk, but appreciate some cannot do this.

PeteBrant

I think that Patients and staff should park free, but visitors should perhaps pay a nominal fee.

Snazy

Totally agree. Would be nice if you maybe used your appointment card as a parking permit? Pop it in the window displaying date and time of appointment.

Sonic'

My local hospital is 50p for an hour, or 1.50 for 24 hours

Bargain I think

pslewis

That's a good idea ......
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Assuming that people are honest ... I can just imagine how many 'fakes' would be used

SiPie

Good idea

However, the only negative is that car thieves would have a field day

PeteBrant

As said, would be a but of an advert for thieves - But to take the good idea further - You take a ticket when you park - you go for your appoinment, When you go the receptionist of the particular clinic you are attending she stamps your ticket (so to speak) and you simply put that in a machine when you leave - if you have a stamp the machine validates you for free, if not, you pay based on your time of entry.

Snazy

Pretty sad and low level to drop to, to save £2 parking locally, but I guess some people would. Im sure there are ways and means to protect against it. Not too many people fake P&D tickets, same sort of thing. A barcode could easily be used, or various other methods.

Seeing as you started this thread, what are YOUR suggestions for rectification of this issue?

Si, yes and no. Any car in a car park will be a target. Station car parks are where people leave cars all day. P&D car parks show the expiry of tickets, so the assumption would be, anyone buying 6 hours of time would not be coming back soon, so I dont think it would differ too much to an average car park tbh.
A lot of appointments for hospitals are done by post, you could easily be sent something to use, show an attendent a letter and be given access to the car park, and so on. There are lots of ways to address the matter, IF it mattered. But lets be honest, it doesn't. Not to those in a position to do something about it.

Snazy

Yup again a good idea

Dont think it makes the car a target as much as thought though. See above.

lozgti

Our Hospital is nowhere near the shops.

In fact most Hospitals I know are nowhere near shops so I don't reckon it is the skinflints using them.I think it is genuinely patients, staff and visitors.

mykp

Our local hospital charge £1 for upto 2 hours then £3 thereafter.

I walk through the hospital grounds almost everyday and the car parks are about 75% full. but the surrounding streets, including the one I live on are full of hospital cars. And there nearly all staff cars, same cars dayin, dayout (who get discounted parking I might add) but why pay when you can park for free on a nearby street.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Ours cost me £3 (ish) for about an hour when my dad was taken into A&E. My mind was on other things, but I still spared a second to think "robbing *******s!!!" as I fed the meter

SJ_Skyline

I've spent over £30 on hospital parking over the last couple of days...

The real downer is they closed our local hospital's maternity department a year or so ago which was less than 200 yards from our house.

Odds on

I've not added up how much it cost to park whilst my Niece was is for a few weeks. The Royal Brompton Hospital is not in an ideal place for parking!

Spoon

The charging isn't as bad as the queue to get out of the barriers when you add a few numpties in to the mix. I must admit to jumping the queue before now and driving up the kerb and around the barriers in calm annoyance.

It's not usually the place they are going to want to send jobsworth after you either as moods are often more unpredictable

David Lock

Charge 'em That's only 15 quid each

===========

I think they should charge on severity of illness. Injuries from a binge drinking session pay full whack. Knife and gunshot wounds half price. Would need a sign reminding people who were not expected to leave the hospital to park elsewhere

Shark Man

The car park on our hospital was sold as part of a deal to developers who extended the hospital.

Consequentally, its privately owned. So, that'll be £3.50, sir.

I actually had a spare ticket (machine gave two), and I kept hold of it for a few days to see if the charges would increase (there is no tarrif displayed anywhere ), oh yes it did, five days later £50 odd!

Just hope no one drives to hospital then gets admitted overnight - otherwise it'll cost them!

pslewis

Me?

I would include a Car Park Pass in with the Appointment notification, stamped the date and time of appointment and estimated time for completion.

That would solve the appointments.

Another idea would need to be used for visitors and emergencies ...... Emergencies could be dealt with by the driver appealling if fined - visitors could get a ticket from the ward they are visiting.

But, basically, where the hospital is in the back of beyond the parking should be free .... town centre hospitals are the difficult ones.

oldsplice

St Alban's Hospital charges £3 for the first 3 hours, and that's the minimum cost so even if you are going to be an hour, it's still £3!

It's foofin' disgraceful! What about pensioners who are visiting their husbands/wives whatever? My dad was in intensive care for 6 weeks a few years ago, down in Hampshire and they had a token system running.

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Spent nearly £100 on parking when our son was first born, he was readmitted 3 days after leaving with jaundice and spent 9 days in the neo natal ward.

Staff were absolutely brilliant though

oldsplice

Make him pay you back when he gets a paper round!

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

Don't you worry, as soon as he turns 2 he is straight in the workhouse

oldsplice

You're not related to my mum are you?