Pre-paid Hospital Parking charges - Grrr....

[John K]

I have no real problem with paying for hospital parking but I do protest at pre-paying.

Yesterday I went to Evesham Minor Injuries Unit to get something fished out of my eye. Guessed it would take a while so paid £3.50 for up to 4 hours.

Only to be at the reception desk for 7 minutes before being sent to Cheltenham.

Where I paid £5.60 for up to three hours and I stayed very nearly the whole three hours, to the point I was worrying about having to go and feed the meter.

Unlike Worcester where you get a ticket on entry and pay when you leave.

Would it be a tad cynical to suspect some hospitals know folk tend to over estimate the length of stay and are happily pocketing the extra parking payments..?

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Parking is often farmed out to the building owners under PPI arrangements I believe. When I need to go to Wycombe hospital I always park in the road outside where £1 buys two hours. At Stoke Mandeville however, there's little choice but to take the hit. The charges are time related afterwards though I believe. That is, not pay and display. Unfortunately the hospital car park in Wycombe gets used by shoppers and students and it's nearly always full. I agree that pay and display is the wrong system for visits of unknown duration (nearly all of them) because the last thing you need is the worry about the ticket just as you're called in.

[stephenh]

That is wicked. The charges are high enough as it is, but at least Burton and Derby (the 2 hospitals which I am mostly visiting these days) both work on the basis that you pay as you are leaving the hospital.

[Greenstreak-Andy D]

Love the way the parking machine gives you change too!!!! NOT!

[John K]

7 minutes ago, greenstreak said:

Love the way the parking machine gives you change too!!!! NOT!

And how all the vending machines prices in the hospital seem to be set to give you 5p change (if they give you change) so when you buy a bottle of water in the vain attempt to get change for the parking meter you get nothing useful.

I don't know why they don't install one armed bandits - at least you have a 'chance' of getting some change...

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I just use the phone app for the company responsible for the parking charges, makes one less thing to worry about when hospital visiting. Also very easy to pay for an hour, (the minimum) and then add extra time as you need it.

The downside is you can see what you’re paying over time.

[SootySport]

It's not just Hospitals that have Pre Pay parking these days, most public car parks have this around here.  I don't pay anything at my local car parks, I happen to know when the parking enforcement officer visits each car park so avoid those times.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

They had ANPR  with pay for what you use arrangements on car parks in the Wycombe District until it was discovered that councils cannot get personal data from DVLA in order to pursue fines levied for overstayers. Private parking companies can obtain these data, but councils cannot. Madness! The ANPR had to come out and pay and display reinstated.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

My local - Macclesfield District Hospital, Just contracts it all out to one of the big (usual suspect) parking companies. Hence access to the apps, etc.

[jeff oakley]

It is a real problem and one not easily overcome. In many places it used to be free parking and what happens is that office workers then park for free and patients cannot get parked at all. 

One hospital IIRC it was in South Yorkshire, people would leave cars and go off on coach holidays as the pick up was by the hospital, manu blocking disabled parking spaces. It is hard to imagine people so selfish and that is why we have parking charges. Hospitals are useless at controlling so they hive it off to these other people.

Even worse is that there is not enough parking for staff. My daughter was working at two hospitals on one day last week and even though she has a paid staff pass, the staff car park was full, so she parked in the public one other wise the operations she was doing the anaesthetics for would not have happened, as there was no where else to park. She came back after a 12 hour day to a £60 parking ticket, reduce if paid in 14 days. Stupid management have not made any arrangement for such an occurrence so nothing they can do.

I do not know the answer as people take advantage but there must be one.