Hospital parking pledge could hit outpatients
CAR PARKING charges for outpatients at Torbay Hospital could soar by around a quarter because of Labour's pledge to allow friends and relatives of inpatients to park for free, ministers have been warned.
An impact assessment drawn up by Department of Health officials states that a flagship policy to allow friends and relatives to visit their loved ones in hospital for free will lead to a rise in the demand for car parking places.
Hospitals are expected to either establish a 'privileged' section in car parks for those who can park for free, which would squeeze spaces for other patients, or increase the charges for groups not covered by the scheme.
The most recently released figures show that South Devon Health Care NHS Trust collected £405,698 in parking charges from hospital visitors in 2007/08.
The report predicted the policy 'would weaken a major reason for restraint in charging' and hospital managers could hike charges for outpatients by as much as 26 per cent to ease overcrowding.
In the longer term, the scheme could even lead to hospitals reducing the time and frequency of appointments in a bid to leave more parking space available for charging.
A Department of Health spokesman today insisted that hospital trusts will be able to manage the increased demand without increasing charges.
He said: "There is no intention for this to mean increased charges for other groups. We believe trusts will be able to manage demand using a range of approaches, such as prioritising some groups and improving access by public transport.
"We will reinvest efficiencies year on year so we can, over the next three years, phase out these car parking charges. Clinical care will not be affected by changes to car parking charges."
Health Secretary Andy Burnham used last year's Labour Party conference to announce the abolition of some parking charges, which will cost up to £140million a year.
It will include the visitors of inpatients, as well as outpatients who have to attend more than three follow-up hospital appointments.
Comments
by Peter, Dawlish
Friday, February 12 2010, 9:57AM
“There are some genuine reasons for some relatives of hospital patients to visit. But what they do not realise in the heat of the moment is, the patient is in there for a reason (and that can be many). If the patient is stretched out on a bed with tubes coming out of every orifice, he/she doesn't want to see any visitors. A phone call to the Hospital would be a much better bet to know the state of play and relieve parking spaces for those that genuinely need to be there.
The last thing that I want when I have been ill in hospital, are an endless stream of visitors asking the same question as the one that came before. I AM ILL FOR PETE's SAKE.”