Parking ticket - Pay up? Fair cop?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Ah - right. So you now want NHS funds diverted into policing parking by selfish motorists? Isn't that rather unfair to patients who don't have a car?

[dennis]

Providing free parking is also increasing the wages of staff with cars but not those without.

[whisky-dave]

How do they work that out ? Is there a tick box when you're employed regarding whether or not you have a car ?

[tim...]

people living out in the sticks with no bus service make that choice for themselves

tim

[tim...]

we don't

but what we do know is that a much smaller number of people live within walking distance of some random out of town location with no bus service

than live within a PT ride of a city centre location served by multiple busses (and perhaps a rail station as well)

tim

>

[tim...]

if they get there in time

tim

[charles]

or, they make use of a local charity that provides lifts for people who need them.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Are you really saying there are hospitals situated where there is no half decent PT service?

[charles]

I suspect he's saying that there are people who live where there is no decent bus service. Like here.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Once upon a time I lived in home counties suburbia.

A bus once an hour connected to the local town (but nowhere near te hospital) and so do te train, every hal;f hgour. which in the other direction connected to London and the World.

I now live where its a mile to even find a bus stop and ten to find a train station.

In my 21 years here I have nmever found a bus going where I wanted when I wanted.

I think all I have done on buses is park and ride and airport coaches

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Then they'll be used to paying to run a car including paying for parking - or a taxi, etc.

The land cost alone of providing adequate free parking for everyone at a hospital would be vast. And many ain't willing to pay more taxes etc to run the NHS properly as is.

[Marland]

That may be the case for people who move to the sticks without considering the consequences having been influenced by the Homes in the Country lifestyle but there are still many people who live in the sticks where they born years ago and that is where they have worked,raised families and gathered friends. In many areas increasing centralisation has seen facilities move from small cottage hospitals where much routine work was done to large ones . Bus services have been withdrawn from many routes where they existed for years as well and that will not have been anticipated by many who are of advanced years . A facility about 10 miles away is much easier to reach often with helpful friends and neighbours than one that is 30 miles away . While being an in patient in one of the large hospital may actually be better as there are better facilities for their condition and out patient who is asked to attend just for a blood test , scan or other routine procedures it is a long way to go and may involve having to take a leave day off work rather than half a day or even just be given a few hours off by a kindly manager/boss.

You may be happy moving to a tiny flat in West London where you can use your free wrinklies pass on the numerous buses in that area but many people would rather live a bit longer amongst the communities and families they were born into and worked in , ICBW but you seem to be a bit strange in some ways so are more of a loner so won?t appreciate that.

GH

[Paulk]

It isnt here. They got almost the entire massive block of land for free.

[Marland]

They vary as well, many are not free though the drivers may well be volunteers. And that can lead to unreliability issues if there are not enough to meet demand.

When my Dad was 90 he travelled to a Town Hospital only built in the

1990?s. 8 miles away for various routine things like a catheter change, Mum would drive mostly but sometimes used a one of the cars. Now she is nearly 90 herself with similar requirements but the Hospital is now 25 miles away, a car isn?t always available and although it hasn?t happened to her she knows of people who were taken in have a no show for the return and be stranded in the Hospital overnight which puts a burden on the hospital. It should be obvious to the powers that be that it takes longer to travel 8 miles than 25 so if you only have x number volunteers or even paid transport ambulances they cannot handle the same number of patients as they are taking longer to move individual ones. The charge for a car is around £30 , my mother can afford that for the number of times she has to attend but others who need to attend a lot more may find it a burden. As it happens she needs to attend quite a lot this month so it is cheaper for me drive down and stay awhile and do a few other chores while I?m at it.

Parking at this particular hospital isn?t too bad, you only need to make a couple of visits in a period to justify a 5 or 7 day ticket. 15 mins free £1.80 2 hours £2.10for 4 £4.10 for 24.

5 day is £5.00 7 day. £6.00 25 day £20.00

Compared to some places that is quite reasonable.

GH

[Marland]

Bugger, other way around of course.

so if you only have x number volunteers or even paid

[Steve Walker]

As I said no policing of it, just a simple token system and hand out the tokens as you book in for your appointment or at the ward reception if you are a visitor. Cost is negligible.

Charging for parking is effectively a tax for being ill or for having an ill relative and is morally wrong.

Huge numbers of patients who don't have cars get relatives, friends or neighbours to drive them to and from hospital anyway, rather than face long, slow journeys by public transport; often with numerous changes as services have been cut at local hospitals and expanded in "centres of excellence"; and often requiring lengthy walks at each end - which is often not possible for ill people.

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

You don't have to know. If there were originally six local hospitals all providing the particular clinic say one day a week and now there is just one providing it five days a week, 83% of the patients now have to travel further. Okay that won't be accurate, as there may be a concentration of population near the one, but it still means the large majority have to travel further.

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

Yes. I have worked a various places (I move around as a contractor) and

90% of my workplaces have been within a 30 minute (typically closer to 20 minute) drive from home. Publkic transport to them has ranged from 2 hours to 3, with incoventient times for my start and finish times, multiple changes and having to travel in entirely the wrong direction to meet up with a route that does go the right way.

I have used trains when I was working in the city centre, but still used the car much of the time, as I found that if I finished at 4pm, the next train wasn't 'til 4:55pm and didn't stop at my station, so I had to travel to a different one and then catch a bus. The time wasted was time that I wanted to spend at home with my family, not stuck on or waiting for public transport.

SteveW

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Sounds easy doesn't it? Makes you wonder why supermarkets with free parking employ sophisticated systems and paid enforcers.

[Steve Walker]

Because they are providing free parking for anyone - including those that may come in and find that what they want is out of stock and leave without buying anything.

Hospitals don't generally have people just coming for a look - they are patients, visitors, delivery companies, etc. which can be managed in a simple and cheap way - free parking granted by an exit token being given when they book in.

SteveW