A tax on patients?
2:34pm Friday 8th August 2008
IT has been branded a tax on the sick and now car parking charges at a Hampshire hospital are on the rise again - just five months after fees were introduced.
A free hour's parking has been scrapped by hospital bosses in the New Forest while the fee for parking for two hours will double.
Health chiefs are scrapping the barrier system at Lymington New Forest Hospital that has been dogged with problems prompting a number of complaints.
Instead it is being replaced with a payand- display scheme - and motorists will face a hike in the cost of short-stay parking when the devices start operating on August 18.
Earlier this year it was revealed that parking charges enabled hospitals across the country to rake in £102m last year.
The second highest earner was Southampton General Hospital, which netted more than £2m.
The British Medical Association Patient Liaison Group said the fees charged by some NHS trusts were unacceptable and amounted to a tax on patients.
Hampshire Primary Care Trust says pay-and-display is being introduced in Lymington because some people have found it difficult to operate the barrier.
"A new tariff being launched on the same day will see a small increase for shorter visits to the hospital,"
said a trust spokesman.
"Revenue from parking charges will be reinvested back into the hospital to further improve the patients' environment.
"The decision to change the system and introduce a new tariff was carried out by the hospital's Travel Group, which comprises staff, union representatives, managers and the League of Friends."
But Lymington councillor Tony Swain said complaints were raised at this week's meeting of the town council. He said: "When you go to the hospital, particularly the minor injuries unit, you don't know how long you're going to be there. "I'd like to see a return to free parking - but nowadays people raise money in whatever way they can." The mayor, Martina Humber, confirmed that councillors were unhappy with the changes and said a special debate would be held on the issue. Free parking at the hospital was scrapped in March, more than a year after the awardwinning complex admitted its first patients. Since the barrier was installed some patients and visitors say they have been unable to reach the button from their car, while others have had problems stopping in the right place to activate the sensor. Some motorists have even driven into the barrier after failing to see it.
- See today's Daily Echo for the full story