As I travel around the UK, I note that there is a theme that runs through the local press — Parking should be free – and Hospitals, particularly, shouldn’t charge…read about it here.
What they forget is that charging for parking at hospitals in the UK is relatively new. however complaints about not enough parking at hospitals isn’t. There have been article after article over the past few years bemoaning the fact that patients and visitors couldn’t find places to park at the local med centers.
Now, that problem has gone away. There is plenty of space. However the solution has the locals in an uproar. You cannot win.
My take is that hospitals do offer free or subsidized parking for patients and close visitors, however many don’t avail themselves of that program. If you read the article carefully, you will find that is noted.
Also, the numbers are very misleading — they show gross revenues, and not daily parking charges. But such is life. The British press is no different than their cousins in the US, if it bleeds it leads. No need to really discover the facts. If one person paid $200 to park their car at the hospital while visiting a dying parent, we don’t need to find out just how long that period of time was. If it was two days, then perhaps the fees are a bit high, but if it was 30 days…..
Just the facts ma’am — but not the main stream media
JVH
One Response
umm, actually, even though we have to pay to park at the local hospitals, there still aren’t enough parking spaces. So many of them are taken up by people with staff permits – usually the spaces closest to the entrances! It can be a huge painful effort to park several hundred yards away from the department, the struggle in past all the ‘staff only’ parking. Oh, and in one hospital you have to pay IN ADVANCE! Ok for visiting time, but when going in for a sonogram and biopsy, how on earth could I fathom how long I’d be there. So they get people paying for 4 hours, just in case, who are then out in an hour – lots of revenue there!!
Blue badge holders (disabled) get a better deal, thankfully.
I think my worst time was when I needed to take my young child to outpatients. He was on crutches, so I had to drop him outside the door, make him go in on his own, as I had to drive some half a mile to park, hoping he was ok on his little ownsome.