Hospital parking - good news? bad news? impossible task?

I'm not sure whether it's a good idea jess. Our main hospital, which is situated within reasonable walking distance of the town centre, had to bring in parking charges to stop people parking for free while they were at work. As it is, I have queued for an hour to get in to it when taking my son for appointments!

There is, I understand, an office where it is possible to buy a reduced, or even be given a free, car parking 'season ticket' which would have come in handy when we were going two or three times a week, if I could ever find it!

It might be a horses fir courses sort of thing!

I am finding it almost cheaper to go by mini cab because the fees are so extortionate- that cannot be right. I have a blue badge but I do not get any concessions.

We have the same problem at one of our hospitals in Newcastle. It is situated slap bang in the city centre and is very close to Newcastle United's football ground too. It is often used by shoppers and football fans which the hospital encourages on Saturdays as I guess it's income for them, but I think the way around this kittylester would be to give patients some kind of ticket/slip that can be displayed (perhaps it could be sent out with appointments) . I know that when I take my mum on one of her very frequent hospital appointments the parking charges can run into several pounds per visit.

My dear uncle, who has been diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, has been in hospital for 10 weeks. The first part of his stay was in a cancer centre, where the parking was free, but for the last few weeks, he's been in his local hospital. He has lots of visitors, but the hospital charges are extortionate. I reckon it costs his visitors at least £18 per day. I go on alternate days, and I'm feeling the pinch!

When DH was undergoing chemotherapy it was possible to get a free card from the reception which could be left on the dashboard of the car, the problem was actually finding a parking space in the car park. At one point they actually took away 50% of the spaces for "staff parking" except that every time we went there at least half of those spaces were empty.

Same here, it's not just the extortionate parking charges at our big hospital, but finding a space at all is impossible at busy times.
But chemo patients, etc do get free parking, which is fair I think.

It's a step in the right direction. When I have had to have radio or chemo I have had my parking ticket stamped by the receptionist to waive any charges. That part seems easy enough to manage.

I think charge everybody and refund for people who really have to park close to the hospital because of disabilities or treatment. Anyone who objects to paying can find somewhere nearby to park that is free and WALK there. Using public transport is also a good idea. Not everyone needs to be so close to the hospital.

If I have a choice, I go to Shotley Bridge as the parking is free, whereas Durham costs a lot. But they do have the advantage of a machine where you pay on exit, as does the Freeman in Newcastle.
I guess you are talking about the RVI, gillybob.

When my husbnad was going to the Freeman for radiotherapy, we were told to park in the multistorey at the back and only pay for an hour. If the appointment lasted longer than an hour the department would pay the fine.

My husband had a disabled badge, so could get in free most times. One thing that puzzles me about hospital parking is why there are so few disabled bays. Durham is the worst for that.

Three years ago we were visiting the Lister at Stevenage all day, every day. They had just opened a multi-storey car park and with a chit from the ward we were able to get a weekly season ticket for about £20.00 a week, which we were able to renew when our daughter was discharged to cover our daily visits to outpatients for the first few weeks. When we no longer needed the season ticket, we got tickets that we paid for as we left.

Further back the JR at Oxford also worked on a pay at departure system.

Our large hospital is 20min walk to the train station, two trains and a bus ride the other end. This can take up to 2hrs travel time so it's not practical to use public transport. All the streets surrounding the hospital have double yellow lines and the queue to get into the car park stretches along the busy main road at times. The car park operates a pay on exit system but is expensive. I believe they make free arrangements for certain patients. Blue badge holders are not charged.
The local hospital has free parking and is in the middle of a housing estate but still you are lucky to find a space.

I don't know what the solution is.

The hospital that my son attends most charges Blue Badge holders but, despite that, only has about 2% of it's parking spaces reserved for disabled people. This confuses me as it's a hospital

When I first started taking DS1 he could hardly walk and was using a wheelchair most of the time. If we had to park at the extremes of the car-park he was exhausted by the time he actually got to see whoever it was. Of course, I could have pushed the wheelchair but he was 36 and didn't really want his Mum pushing him to appointments!

It is all very well encouraging people to use public transport, but by definition many people coming to a hospital are ill. Even if they are mobile, journeys by public transport, especially if it involves several changes, standing waiting and walks can be just too exhausting or difficult for all kinds of reasons for them to contemplate.

After DD's stay in hospital she had a fairly easy public transport journey from home to hospital, but she also had a very large and very fragile skin transplant on her arm and was advised by the hospital not to risk travelling by public transport in case it damaged from a knock or the press of people on the bus.

I've always thought the hospital car parking charges are really unfair and disagree with them.

However, I think it's a cynical move because, apart from being an obvious vote catcher, it makes the NHS even more vulnerable in terms of where it gets its funding.

There are lots of things in hospitals that are unfair - overcharging for phone calls and TVs, etc., etc. - but the NHS is increasingly being forced to operate like a business and that means using every opportunity to make money. With many hospitals trying to stay afloat financially, the closing off of this revenue source is likely to create more "failing" hospitals and lay the ground for further privatisation.

In Scotland car parking charges were abolished in hospitals in 2008, but does apply at some with existing contracts. In Wales there are only two health Boards who have car parks that still charge.

I haven't heard any claims that Scottish or Welsh hospitals are 'failing' due to not charging for parking.

I object to parking at our local hospital for blood tests - in and out in 10 minutes can cost around £4 before you enter the hallowed portals. I prefer to pay on exit as you do in many shopping malls - much fairer.

This very tricky depending where the Hospital is.

As Kittylester says you a have to have some way of making sure the spaces near to the hospital are not taken up by commuters or shoppers.

The Hospital in the city centre where my DGS was born is in the area two Universities as are several of the other teaching hospitals in the trust.

There are very few parking spaces at all and the roads around these are full of one way systems and some vile roundabouts. This particular city just developed rather than ever being planned.

My local hospital is on the edge of a town and would not generally attract commuters, but they give 20min free and then it's about £4 for up to three hours which IMO is very unfair. Charging by the actual hour is a much better method.

When OH was in hospital for some critical surgery the ward were able to issue a permit for unlimited parking.
I am sure that would be an easy way to solve the issue but the car parks are now managed by a private company who just want to make money.

My DD has to drive about 4 miles across the city to the hospital where she works. She does shift work and public transport is not a viable option as there is no direct route. She would have to go into the centre of town and out again. Starting shifts at 7am or doing nights at 9pm. So I do think shift staff should get some assistance with this issue.

Planners should consider suitable parking when they are planning their big new hospitals.

Twenty minuets free. nellie I don't think I've ever been in and out of a hospital in twenty mins !

The income from the parking at our local hospital goes to the private company running the car park - I would not resent the charge so much if I thought that it was going to the hospital.

There is no staff car park either - they are strewn round the streets, or paying in a public car park.

I was very irritated when they built this new hospital, just a few years ago, that parking was not taken into account. All they had to do when constructing the new building was to dig down and create an underground car park - job done. As it is, it is a struggle to find somewhere to park; and then you have to pay a fortune. Every visit to physio cost me £5 in parking - and as to consultant appointments.....!

Mishap I assumed the hospital received the income from their car parks but perhaps all are run by private companies. If that is so, I suppose the companies would pay the hospitals for using the land? Also, I suppose if these private companies didn't run them, the hospitals would have to pay for the upkeep and running of the car parks, including measures to prevent those not attending the hospital from using the car park.

It's usually part of the PFI agreement. Durham Hospital was built by Balfour Beatty, who run the car parks, catering and cleaning as well as procurement and portering.

If the hospitals own the car parks they will get a cut, even if the private companies look after the car parks and collect the fines etc.
Terribly expensive to build a multi storey - £1000s per parking space I believe.
There has been a general trend to have bigger hospitals for specialist services like cancer treatment - so public transport not always practical.
It's all a bit problematic isn't it, and one size fits all dictats would seem inappropriate.
I remember about 25 years ago when I was working in the NHS hospitals were told they should "generate income". Some of them build car parks then I think. Others developed shopping/cafe areas etc. That must have been in the days of PM Thatcher.

Just checked York Hospital. They have a multistorey there which they did not have five years ago. I bet that caused a lot of problems when it was being built. Did anyone go there then?

I would have thought that some sort of type of "blue badge" system could be operated. Perhaps by the department that the patient is attending if thought suitable. There could be a limiting date on it when the patient is expected to complete their treatment.