| Topic: | Re:Re::Re:The cost of Hospital Parking is like rubbing salt into the wounds! | |
| Posted by: | Sarah Felstead | |
| Date/Time: | 29/11/05 15:51:00 |
| I agree with Bernadette. I also think that there should be some understanding of why people want to use a car park and what is needed to allow us easy access. The car park machines print entrance and exit times on the tickets so can supply the times people spend at the hospital, which is another important factor in looking at the whole car parking issue. Fearful at being clamped in the drop off/pick up zone when picking up my elderly neighbour from having numerous tests, I took my husband to get her from the unit the tests had been run at whilst I sat in the driver’s seat. Within a couple of minutes a man pulled up in what looked like a huge gas-guzzling-open-backed-truck and started waving at me. He was trying to get me to move on - and started to argue over the time I had been parked. He stopped short of calling me a liar when I said he should go and check his CCTV tape of my arrival and that I genuinely was waiting for a pick up. I asked about the other cars parked on the front none of which had a driver inside - and was told they were taxi's. Wasn't I, in effect a taxi? My neighbour could have used hospital transport for both her journeys – but it was far more sensible for her to have a lift from somebody she knew. He did suggest I go into the car park and pay, which I said I wasn't going to do. The next time this happened I rang ahead to say I was coming but would be on my own and was told to leave a note on the dash board and it would be okay. My neighbour could not have walked without severe discomfort to the car park and would only need a wheel chair if she was required to be wheeled to the entrance at a trot to satisfy Gas Guzzlers stop watch. This may be a strange way of writing this, but it demonstrates the fear of being clamped which pervades the whole visit at a time when the last thing on your mind should be car parking and fees and fines. I agree that the car parking should fund the ongoing maintenance of the car park – and it may be that when Matt gets his figures that the fees are so high, because of high maintenance charges – in which case gas guzzler could walk as he wanted my neighbour to do. It was completely absurd that he was driving around the front area of the hospital and that there are so many car park attendants employed for such a small car park. On a previous discussion I suggested that there should be a half hour charge to allow for drop offs and pick ups which is a small amount and encourages people to leave the car park quickly, and not hang around after doing just that. As far as people staying with a relative, there should be a way of contacting the parking office from a ward and getting them to clear a car for a long term stay without the relative having to leave the side of the person they are supporting and without the dreadful charges Ina and Debbie have experienced. I find it absurd that a temporary disability badge cannot be issued to people having long term care or needs. It isn’t as if it would be difficult to gain a medical opinion! |