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Parking at the hospital! - Dawn Hoskins (5th Mar 2009 - 17:38:34) Yikes! The parking at Royal Surrey is outrageous. But, for anyone needing to go in the next week, I have a valid ticket [which I no longer need] which expires next Tuesday. Free to collector. I have also put this on Freecycle and marked it 1st come 1st served. I really do think it is a crime to take advantage of people and their family who are sick. It's not as if there is anywhere else to park. Dont get me started on the rates charged to watch TV, make phone calls etc..etc.. It makes me so cross that businesses are making money out of me in this manner. Rip off. It shouldn't be allowed.

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Sue W (5th Mar 2009 - 20:50:45) This is one of my pet hates. My dad had to go to a south London Hospital for tests etc. on a heart condition. He was there for a large number of hours. On departure it cost him £25!!!! (Nearly gave him a heart attack at 72!!) If he was made aware by the staff, he could have had a day pass for £20. Do they keep you moving around the department to gain revenue - I am such a cynic - and would say yes!! Lets tax the sick more - it must be acceptable if you are saving their lives! It was interesting that when he came to having his quadruple by-pass, the NHS hospital kept moving his dates back, in the end they sent him to a private Hospital near Epsom - FREE PARKING!!!

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Stephen (6th Mar 2009 - 14:17:46) OK, this is going to be a bit controversial ... The sick get a lot of very expensive treatment absolutely free through the NHS. Shouldn't they contribute a bit back if they choose to drive there? [Ducks and runs]

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Dawn Hoskins (6th Mar 2009 - 15:02:24) I wouldn't mind paying it if that is where the money went. The car parks are privately run. No cash goes to the NHS at all. Same for the phones, TVs etc.

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Chris (6th Mar 2009 - 16:08:05) I always thought that the parking areas were part of the hospital and managed by them (NHS). If they are privately owned then it is utterly digraceful! Likewise the phone/internet/tv charges are desperate but at least now mobile phones can be used. NHS have decided not to introduce free(ish) wireless broadband yet owing to the potential issues of wireless signals interfering with equipment.

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Marian C (6th Mar 2009 - 18:38:34) I have to agree that although if you are just visiting for the day and have to hang around it can work out quite expensive. However, when our daughter was in for 12 days and having I don't know how many thousand pounds worth of tests and treatment I have to say I didn't mind the £15 a week for a car parking pass. I was just so grateful that we have a NHS at all that I happily coughed up knowing if we had had to pay from our own pockets we'd have had to move house to cover the costs.

Re: Parking at the hospital! - sue W (6th Mar 2009 - 21:43:09) I watched a programme about this sometime ago, and the hospital stated that revenue from the car park enabled them to carry out extra treatment. As I stated, the hospital kept my father waiting so long that they paid a private hospital to carry out his surgery. At what price was that? - is car park revenue paying private hospitals carry out what should have been done under NHS - but for what ever reason didn’t!! I would never object if the funds were actually going fully into the Hospital pot, there will be those who have received lifesaving operations, who would find it acceptable for everyone to pay high parking charges to cover these costs. What are the NHS contributions for? Most of our money is going into committees, overseers, quangos etc, but very little in proportion is spent on where I believe it should be. My mother was kicked around the mental health department for months (12 years ago,) because there was no funding at the time for dementia /Alzheimer, and ended up sending her to a completely unsatisfactory home, where she nearly died (aged 64), it then resulted in finding funding to send her to a proper EMI unit. (Coincidently their new neighbour was the head of mental health at Farnham Road Hospital Trust in Guildford [where she was], so I still believe for her a few strings were pulled!!!!) Don’t tell me the NHS is adequate and parking charges are an acceptable form of revenue!! My son had to have a scan on his knee in Basingstoke – at the time the waiting list was 4 weeks. While waiting for his turn, we were in reception and someone wanted to have a scan and was told the waiting list was now 16 weeks!. The receptionist offered a private scan and said it could be done next week - at a cost of £1000.00 and any subsequent treatment would have to be private. No wonder they extend these facilities – to accommodate desperate people who will pay for treatment rather than wait 4 months to be seen!!

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Dawn Hoskins (6th Mar 2009 - 21:47:10) Can't use mobiles in the cardiac ward, interferes with everyones machines that they are all wired up to (inc husband!). So just have to cough up for the 'in-house' private service.

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Peter (7th Mar 2009 - 13:31:45) There is a large supermarket car park just down from the Royal Surrey. I would have no qualms about parking there and avoiding the rip-off.

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Dawn Hoskins (7th Mar 2009 - 13:51:29) the ticket has now been taken (suject to collection)

Re: Parking at the hospital! - P Weyland (7th Mar 2009 - 17:49:45) In response to Stephen; I can see where you're coming from but its hardly 'free' more like 'partially subsidised via stealth tax'

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Phil McNamara (8th Mar 2009 - 18:20:16) Dear all In a recent PATIENT survery group, it was - in fact - the patient's themselves who asked for car-parking charges, and not only that, but the disabled patient's group specifically asked for parking charges to apply to them under DDA. That is, the patient's themselves felt the charges were fair, should apply to all, etc. Long-term patients can apply for reimbursement of NHS car-parking charges, and certain categories of patients can apply to groups such as Macmillan for support. Finally, all hospitals have patient transport, based on clinical need. Kind regards, PMN

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Sue W (9th Mar 2009 - 00:57:16) PMN I am sure those who were receiving treatment agreed that everyone should pay for car parking purely by circumstances. If as Dawn says and in the report I watched, some do not receive a penny and most only about 24% of the total. Now if anyone can inform us that Guildford, Basingstoke and QA at Cosham receive the Lions Share, after patrolling and money collecting have been deducted then I will shut up! I calculated roughly (based on Basingstoke - who has increased its parking again) a revenue per day of about £8k -15k per day - 7 days per week. I would endorse that every one stopped smoking and drank only 4 units a week to free up funds for the sick - but it would not be well received!!

Re: Parking at the hospital! - N.Harrison (13th Mar 2009 - 18:28:53) I work at the Royal Surrey and I totally agree that the car parking charges are ludicrous. Although that is assuming that you can actually get parked in the cark park in the first place! Would not recommend using the Tesco's car park as they will clamp if you are there longer than 3 hours. And who could blame them. The car park has been taken over by a very scrupulous company that dish out parking fines at the drop of a hat and that's just to the staff! I know, have been on the receiving end! We have a dedicated staff car park, which unless you get there before 8am, is totally full. I know what you're thinking - "get there before 8am then!" This is also an impossibility what with the current state of the A3 and several sets of road works between here and Guildford. If the staff car park is full we either have to pay extra to park in the patient car park( totally unacceptable for both staff and patients) or there is a piece of waste ground in the research park which is best tackled in a 4x4. ( I do not have such luxury on a mere NHS wage). Now don't get me wrong, I love my job but would love to get to work and actually be able to park my car and treat patients. The Royal Surrey to give them their due, is fully aware of such issues but they have their hands tied with regards to expansion of car parking spaces, by the local authority. They do not wish to encourage people to use their cars to travel to Guildford. All very well, but wouldn't like to rely on public transport in an emergency, would you? Could go on about this all day, but the only way to make a difference is to complain to the local authoriy or local MP. Think that will be my next port of call

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Phil McNamara (13th Mar 2009 - 21:58:03) All NHS Trust's have local obligations to reduce the amount of traffic to/from their sites. It's not the Trust's fault, it is local councils that have set this in motion. Your story re. staff-parking at the RSCH is interesting - do staff have to pay to park on site?

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Vics (15th Mar 2009 - 15:09:25) I also work at RSCH and we do pay to park as staff. My main problem is that after taking the little darlings to the childminder in the morning, I am rarely at work before 8.30 and have real problems parking. On top of this some staff use their cars to visit patients houses during work hours and spend ages trying to park once they get back! RSCH are trying to address the parking but, as a previous post says, have few options available. Staff are not allowed to park in the public car parks unless we too pay, but often the public will use the staff parking areas due to a lack of space in the others. The TESCO car park, while tempting, is probably not a good place to park as they do monitor use and will photograph number plates. Beware fines through the post! Planning permission for a multi-storey car park might help, but we could wait for ever!!!

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Paul Robinson (15th Mar 2009 - 18:47:04) Recently I too had problems parking at the RSH and, after tooling up and down the car park and getting dangerously close to my appointment time, I was overjoyed to see a group of three people all bearing clip-boards, brief cases, files and blackberrys bidding goodbye to each other, no doubt having emerged from a meeting at the hospital. They all got into their cars and proceeded to sit there, light up and start making phone calls and no doubt going through their in trays! I was incandescent! This is a bloody car park not an office. Admin could have been completed in some lay-by not in an inadequately small hospital car park designed for patients and their visitors. Paul Robinson

Re: Parking at the hospital! - Phil (15th Mar 2009 - 19:29:29) Hmmm ..... doesn't sound like staff, as they would have been in the staff car-park - from your description it sounds as it they were not.

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