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[Varche]

I am not talking about city centre hospitals but those where you would have no earthly reason to park there unless visiting.

Like Scarborough hospital or Castle Hill at Cottingham. Scarborough hospital was originally paid for by donations from locals. Then the NHS was formed and the Borough gave the hospital to the NHS. And now they charge you to park in your hospital!

I had a really bad experience yesterday due to having to go out and put more ticket on the car.

[aaronjb]

Because the NHS is broke? (For many reasons)

[Kevin Wood]

Just capitalising on the fact that, when you have much more grave things on your mind, you'll just pay it.

[D]

Just capitalising on the fact that, when you have much more grave things on your mind, you'll just pay it.

I think that is an unfair assumption in most cases.

To park, you need land, and a decent surface to park on. This surface requires maintenance. There is no money in any NHS budget for this sort of cost. If the car park was pot hole ridden or a swamp, then the same visitors would be complaining about that.

You also need some sort of enforcement on the land. If not you will get cars being dumped, illegal activities including prostitution (which I have seen myself regularly in a hospital car park in Yorkshire).

Our car park for eg: became water logged and had to have repairs done overnight/over a weekend. The cost of those repairs were eye watering. Would you prefer money from the cancer/children's/elderly budgets being diverted to repair the car park?

There is a significant, unrelenting and unrealistic drive to cut spending on healthcare budgets (not managerial, but actual healthcare) that comes from the govt. Then a drive to cut junior doctors pay and make them work longer hours.

Now where would you like your local hospital to find money to do maintenance from? And remember most trusts will cancel parking tickets/charges if you are visiting a very ill relative/a relative in ITU etc.

[Bigron]

"D", you make a good case for parking charges, but I have several issues with what you say.
"Varche" hit it right when he said "OUR" hospital; yesm WE own them, including the car parks, so why should we pay for using what we own? I feel that this should apply to all Municipal car parks - they should be a facility provided free at the point of consumption, as with other services.
Funding is always going to be an issue, especially when all governments try to conceal true costs in stealth taxes; we as motorists know all about those!
Speaking of which, we motorists contribute c.£50,000 Million to the exchequer in taxes and receive approx. 10% of those monies back in facilities (look at the state of the roads), the balance being hived off to fund the NHS, education and pointless wars overseas.

Ron.

[Viral_Jim]

Just capitalising on the fact that, when you have much more grave things on your mind, you'll just pay it.

Now where would you like your local hospital to find money to do maintenance from?

Possibly from the £5m or so the NHS has spent on art since 2010, or by closing the three NHS Homoeopathic Hospitals we have in the uk, or by not prescribing expensive antibiotics to idiots with viral infections just because they ask for them?

Perhaps if the NHS just stuck to meeting a clinical need, with treatments that we know to work, there would be a bit more money in the system for things patients actually need? 
 

[05omegav6]

Thing is, it's cheaper to pay a firm to manage and maintain the car parks than to have the extra burden.

Trouble is, those parking companies have shareholders to satisfy. That's all there is to it. Sadly.

[Terbs]

It wants someone with some sense to look at NHS expenditure. I have said it on here before, they close the really good A & E here at the large local hospital, so every ambulance has now to travel 20 miles to the A & E. So instead of a few miles worth of fuel, that is now increased dramatically. And having ambulances on 20 mile or more trips, must interfere with the response times.
Chap a few doors from me is/was a long serving paramedic. He has just jacked it in....just can't take any more. Lack of staff, resources, etc. As he said, if you have had a heart attack, stroke etc, a twenty mile ride on Bucks pothole ridden roads in a rattling ambulance does you no good at all.

[Kevin Wood]

Just capitalising on the fact that, when you have much more grave things on your mind, you'll just pay it.

I think that is an unfair assumption in most cases.

Yes, you're probably correct, on reflection. My comment probably is more relevant to the cost of parking than the fact that there is a charge for it, which is not unreasonable in itself. I don't see how it need cost any more to run a hospital car park than any other, yet the charges are typically much higher.

It also means that residents in nearby areas get their roads littered with cars which should be in the hospital car park.

[RossPhim]

Just to put my tuppence worth in!   

Up here in the proper North (ie over the roman wall), they abolished all hospital car parking charges a couple of years back.
I've no idea where the money comes from to pay for repairs etc now.   

Time will tell!   

[btc]

I attend the North Tee's hospital in Hartlepool frequently car parking cost £3 for up to 12 hours which I don't think is expensive

[05omegav6]

Just to put my tuppence worth in!   

Up here in the proper North (ie over the roman wall), they abolished all hospital car parking charges a couple of years back.
I've no idea where the money comes from to pay for repairs etc now.   

Time will tell!   

Westminster

[EMD]

Just to put my tuppence worth in!   

Up here in the proper North (ie over the roman wall), they abolished all hospital car parking charges a couple of years back.
I've no idea where the money comes from to pay for repairs etc now.   

Time will tell!   

You dont even pay for water up there  We were told our hospital put in parking fees to stop the local workers from parking their cars in the car park for free all day . Only because the car parks in the town were taking the pizz at parking rates 

[RossPhim]

Just to put my tuppence worth in!   

Up here in the proper North (ie over the roman wall), they abolished all hospital car parking charges a couple of years back.
I've no idea where the money comes from to pay for repairs etc now.   

Time will tell!   

You dont even pay for water up there  We were told our hospital put in parking fees to stop the local workers from parking their cars in the car park for free all day . Only because the car parks in the town were taking the pizz at parking rates 

We don't have water meters but we do pay for it, through the council tax system!   

[EMD]

Just to put my tuppence worth in!   

Up here in the proper North (ie over the roman wall), they abolished all hospital car parking charges a couple of years back.
I've no idea where the money comes from to pay for repairs etc now.   

Time will tell!   

You dont even pay for water up there  We were told our hospital put in parking fees to stop the local workers from parking their cars in the car park for free all day . Only because the car parks in the town were taking the pizz at parking rates 

We don't have water meters but we do pay for it, through the council tax system!   

Ah yes , more than one way to skin a cat