"Scrap hospital parking charges": MP Chris Skidmore
HOSPITALS in the Bristol area raked in more than £2.3 million in parking charges last year.
The fees for people receiving treatment and their relatives have been branded "a tax on the sick" by a patients' group.
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Chris Skidmore
Chris Skidmore, the Tory MP for Kingswood, has obtained figures showing that more than £85 million was put into parking meters at hospitals across the country last year. He called for a full review of the system and plans to raise the matter in Parliament in the coming week.
Cash-strapped NHS trusts say they have no alternative but to charge for parking. The Government called for a "fair and appropriate" approach from trusts, insisting it was a matter for each hospital to decide upon. Typical charges are from £2.50 to £3 for two hours, rising as high as £12 for a day-long stay.
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New figures show that staff and patients at University Hospitals Bristol, which runs the Bristol Royal Infirmary, paid £803,453 to park last year, while North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs Frenchay and Southmead hospitals, said it had received £1.16 million. Weston Area Health NHS Trust's income from parking fees rose from £266,688 to £413,237.
Mr Skidmore said: "I realise that every hospital is different, but clearly I would like to see free hospital parking.
"A lot of my constituents are saying that when they go to hospital they do not want the extra worry of whether they will be clamped, or their ticket running out, when they should be concentrating on treatment.
"The justification is that they (the trusts) use the money to maintain the car parks – but you can clearly see the car parks don't cost millions of pounds to maintain."
The three hospital trusts said there were reduced rates for long-term patients and the terminally ill, while at Weston General staff pay just 10p an hour. There are no charges to park at Cossham Community Hospital, in Kingswood.
The two Bristol hospital trusts said that income from parking fees went towards maintaining car parks with the remainder being invested in patient care.
Patients and visitors at most Welsh hospitals do not have to pay to park after charges were abolished in 2008.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: "Parking charges hit patients hard – particularly elderly people or those who are vulnerable and unable to use public transport.
"It's the last thing patients, relatives and carers need. The Government and trusts need to look at ways of alleviating this pressure."
Simon Wood, director of facilities at NBT, said: "Car parking charges at NBT are among the cheapest for hospital parking in the region.
"The trust offers free parking to disabled people who display a blue badge in their car and to those with long-term conditions including renal and cancer patients.
"We also offer reduced rate parking for a number of people including frequent visitors and those visiting family and friends who are seriously ill."
James Rimmer, chief operating officer at UHBristol, said: "Car parking at our city centre hospitals is a challenge and we are always looking for new ways to improve the situation for our patients.
"If car parking charges were lifted so close to the city centre, we would be concerned that our car parks would quickly be filled with drivers coming to the centre for a variety of reasons. We look forward to hearing more about Mr Skidmore's ideas."
The trust said it runs a free hospital shuttle bus.
Weston Area Health Trust declined to comment.
Comments
by PE175
Sunday, October 28 2012, 9:13AM
“I read all the posts with arguments ref the scrapping of parking fees, but the point is being missed.
Its not the parking fees, it is the original concept of charging in the first place.
Rather than sort out some sort of token process or something similar someone just decided that they would charge visitors no matter what.
Example -Knowle West drop in centre had a free car park, no problem out of town always quite empty.
Transfer the drop in centre to South Bristol Community Hospital and guess what parking charges arrive, again no problem with rogue parkers.
And if you think parking charges are bad try and using the bedside TV in hospital or the telephone, you have to buy a card £5 , £4 for TV £1 for phone.
That buys 24 hour access not 24 hours use, that means even if you cannot watch at all in 24 hours you have to buy a new card, of course its a private company in the BRI ripping off people at the time when they need that sort of thing the least, again it is the nasty concept thought up by some twit, lets charge patients £5 day for TV what a good idea suckers.
The well being of patients should be the priority, and and having some detraction from their medical condition is of benefit to the Hospital and patient, only having TV if you can afford it and charging for visiting the Hospital is as i said before a disgusting concept.”
by Bristolexpat
Saturday, October 27 2012, 8:13PM
“So if the fees are scrapped, how do they stop commuters/residents using the car ark all day for working/living in the centre? Especially as everywhere else has parking charges, CPZ etc....”
by swrural
Saturday, October 27 2012, 8:01PM
“MP trying to get free publicity and he knows it will not change anything.”
by brissleblue
Saturday, October 27 2012, 7:01PM
“@PE175 agree with you that hospital parking charges is a disgusting concept. Agree with you also that those charges could be scrapped by 'anyone in power with some backbone'. Ask yrself the question - the Tories are in power. The decision to scrap charges is with them. Have they got no backbone?
Think you are being distracted however with yr comments on Bristol spending scarce money on schemes that you think are a waste. As @KelvinBlake points out, the real disgrace is the hypocrisy (indeed, the contradiction) that Skidmore displays. Bleating about NHS parking charges yet he is an MP who does not have the backbone to speak out and campaign about the policies that are beggaring not only the NHS but many, many services that the public need.
Old Folks residential homes? Pfft, care for old people costs too much. Tell 'em to live with their relatives. Or, pay.
Multi-nationals using 'clever' schemes to avoid paying tax? Vodaphone, Amazon, Starbucks .... ? Nah, don't close those loopholes. Get the money from 'savings' on public services instead.
People will remember this government not for a car parking charge but the really despicable things they are deliberately doing to make things even more miserable for ordinary people. While at the same time doing nowt to nail tax avoidance.
Our votes in May 2015 will come too late for some - another two and a half years left while the Tories really nail the system down so the organisations who get away with it now will continue to get away with it”
by Tiny_Steve
Saturday, October 27 2012, 6:42PM
“Has anyone suggested where hospitals will find the £millions to replace this parking income?
I don't mean vague platitutes like "sack the bureaucrats", I mean actual detailed costed proposals and how this would affect patient care?
Thought not.”
by PE175
Saturday, October 27 2012, 4:58PM
“Hospital parking charges is a disgusting concept, you are not going shopping, you are not going for a night out you are going into Hospital to visit someone ill or going into Hospital for some kind of treatment.
It dosn`t matter what lame politician comes up with the obvious suggestion that the charges should not be there , its is not for this mess of a Government to say that it is up to the local NHS trusts to decide, its for anyone in power with some backbone to scrap the whole idea.
As for the loss of income, if other authorities in this country are as bad as the one in Bristol they can waste £2 million on any of their hairbrained road improvement schemes, how many millions of our money has been wasted on Fishponds, Whiteladies road and other useless projects, that money could have been put into projects that are actually useful.
Get real - charging people to visit hospital and park is a horrible tax, its not necessary, its against the whole concept of a caring NHS its another government nasty back door tax.”
by KelvinBlake
Saturday, October 27 2012, 4:09PM
“How Chris Skidmore can make this suggestion when his Tory government imposed a pointless top down £3bn reorganisation of the NHS at the time it least could afford to do so when they promised to do the exact opposite astounds me.
So on top of the millions of pounds savings what he promises to do here is cut more nurses and doctors so people can park for free. He needs to go and get his head examined.
Kelvin Blake”
by bubbled
Saturday, October 27 2012, 2:58PM
“Weston Area Health Trust declined to comment - I am sure there must a reason why they refused to comment as if news is good you cant keep them away from a comment on how great they are!”
by Feneon
Saturday, October 27 2012, 1:35PM
“And yet Skidmark refused to back Labour's policy to scrap them at the last election! Make your mind up, flipflopper! Anyway, this is just a feeble and transparent attempt to divert attention away from his breaking of his election pledge to prevent the downgrading, even closure, of Frenchay hospital. The constituents aren't fooled.”
by nickthompson
Saturday, October 27 2012, 1:25PM
“"Scrap our plans to privatise the NHS: MP Chris Skidmore.----------------------------------------------------------------Would have been a far better headline.”