OT: Hospital parking charges removed?

That is the experience in Wales

tim

Reply to
tim...
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well obviously there's a road into the hospital and a road around it, but that's where all the charged parking is.

And it's also where the bus stop is, for people who have the time to go by bus - during the day the bus isn't a bad option as there are 4 an hour, but after 18:00 they are three buses at worse than hourly intervals.

perhaps

but not very likely

and what about patients who have no other way to get there?

tim

Reply to
tim...

And you're not always "allowed" to use it

I went in for a day op

I'm not allowed to drive myself home (seems reasonable, we won't dwell on that)

I had to have someone take me home, but that someone can't be a taxi driver, they have to be someone who will accept being responsible for you on this journey.

but they can't take you home by accompanying you on PT they have to accompany you in a car (which could now be the taxi)

And they wont know to the nearest 2 hours when you will be discharged.

Is it fair to charge this person to park whilst they are waiting?

And what makes it even more stupid is that they don't have to stay we me when I get home. I'm allowed to be in my house on my own after the op. I'm just not trusted to get myself home on PT

what a lark that is

tim

Reply to
tim...

That's why I go to Tesco's coffee shop and wait there. Actually most of our local hospitals allow "community service" drivers to park free, but you still need to find a space. so - I use Tesco.

Reply to
charles

I'm suprised they cost that little what about the admin staff and their man agers and what about the shareholderds how will they make their money ?

Reply to
whisky-dave

Maybe they don;t sheduale hospital appiontments after 18:00, you don't think doctors work 24/7 do you.

What do you mean by have no other way to get there ? if a women on a stop over flight to london to get to a hospital to have quads then surely anyone in the UK can do the same.

Reply to
whisky-dave

They certainly do round here - and before 9am, too , but probably not the same doctor. I once had to take my mother-in-law to an appointment after

18.00. The doctor was quite surprised to find the support services had gone home

An absurd argument.

Reply to
charles

Kindly indicate where I have said I wanted free parking at hospitals.

Reply to
Tim Streater

In which case parking facilities don't matter.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Back in the 70s my paternal grandfather had cancer and went into hospital to have most of his stomach removed. The staff made a mistake and sent him home a few hours later, on the bus!

He survived that, but unfortunately didn't survive the cancer.

SteveW

Reply to
Steve Walker

I have knee problems, so walking far isn't an option - in fact walking from the hospital car park to the orthopedic department that is positioned as far away as is possible is a struggle! I've never understood why they chose that layout. Buses might be possible, but it'd take me three hours just to do the journey from work to hospital and back (ignoring any time lost due to buses not travelling at the exact times that I'd need), instead of half an hour. So travel by car or lose half a day's pay for me.

Even if the children need to go, it usually involves me coming home from work, via the school and that'd take virtually all day.

SteveW

Reply to
Steve Walker

As little as possible, as I want to get back to work and back to getting paid! Practically this means leaving work as late as possible without risking missing the appointment, travelling by the fastest means (car at least 6 times quicker than public transport for me) and heading straight back to work when I come out from the appointment.

SteveW

Reply to
Steve Walker

Of course there are ways for those who don't have a car to get there. An elderly neighbour who doesn't walk too well and never has had a car is collected by hospital transport.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

They do if you are waiting for someone. Most of my journeys to our local hospital are to take someone to an outpatient's appointment and take them home afterwards.

Reply to
charles

In all honesty, i think the author may have an axe to grind in promoting public transport and discouraging car use: the figures do seem....inflated. However, car parking for public use (especially if you intend to charge for it) *will* cost more than a private parking space: my driveway has space for 2 (3 at a push) cars, and probably cost less than £100 to create, and has maintenace costs of zero, if you exclude my time picking the weeds out and occaisionally raking the gravel out. A well-surfaced, CCTV-equipped, line-marked public car park will inevitably incur costs above this, even if we exclude any land purchase costs.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

It can be a right pain in the arse though. A couple of years ago, I had an operation that left me on crutches and unable to walk more than a few yards for several weeks: I spent a good amount of money on taxis getting to appointments because I couldn't manage the walk to and from buses, and I live in an urban area well served by buses, even though my OH drove me to several.

Fortunately, I'm in a position to be able to afford that.

There /are/ patient transport services, but like everything else NHS they've been cut to the bone. You'll spend all day waiting, and have to book it well in advance. I think about 2/3 of my wife's car's mileage this year has been ferrying her Mom to hospital as she can't manage public transport.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

That's quite common, and I think a consequence of people not turning up on time or at all. Annoying for those of us that turn up early :-/

Reply to
Chris Bartram

In message , at 14:51:40 on Thu, 11 May

2017, "Dave Plowman (News)" remarked:

Varies enormously. Some appointments are virtually guaranteed to be ten minutes or less (just like with a GP), others ask you to allow 3-4hrs, and sometimes take that long.

The issue with granularity of public transport is appointments where the hourly service (be that bus or train) gets you there 59 minutes early (if on time).

Reply to
Roland Perry

In message , at

02:44:14 on Thu, 11 May 2017, whisky-dave remarked:

They do get charged.

Car parking is required if a friend/relative drives you.

Very few visitors.

Reply to
Roland Perry

They do where I live too. But if there's NO WAY to get to the hospital then how do the staff get there.

No it's not as if there really was no way then why put a hospital there.

Reply to
whisky-dave

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