Hospital parking fees cause anger (From thisisoxfordshire)

Hospital parking fees cause anger

6:36pm Thursday 11th March 2010 in

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HOSPITAL patients and visitors in Oxfordshire have backed a consumer group’s claim that parking charges are too high and there is a shortage of spaces.

Which? said people using hospitals across the UK faced difficulties finding car parking spaces and dealing with payment systems and charges.

A survey of 1,001 people found 67 per cent who had used an NHS hospital car park in the past two years thought the charges were too high, and more than half had problems finding a space.

Almost half felt the whole experience added to the stress of their visit.

Last night, patient representatives backed the survey’s findings, reporting similar problems at Oxfordshire’s hospitals.

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the John Radcliffe Hospital and Churchill Hospital in Oxford and The Horton Hospital in Banbury, generated £2.2m in revenue from parking charges in 2007-8.

However, the trust said its fees were fair and effective.

It said charges were necessary to stop drivers abusing the car park and to ensure the running costs did not come out of patient funds.

At the Oxford hospitals, visitors pay £2.50 to park for up to three hours. The Horton charges £2 for the first three hours and £3 for six hours.

The trust said its car parks were not run for profit and fees were last increased in 2005, when they rose by 10 per cent. In 2007-08, the fees generated a £300,000 surplus, which was ploughed back into patient care.

Janet Dineen, 52, of Sinodun Road, Didcot, visited the JR several times a year with her late daughter Sarah Swanborough. She said: “They’re robbing the elderly, the sick and disabled and it’s disgusting. It adds to the stress of going to hospital.”

Jacquie Pearce-Gervis, of Patient Voice in Oxford, said: “What I think is worrying is that the cost seems to be creeping up without the public noticing.

“They started off quite fair but they’re creeping up and a trip to hospital can be very expensive when you take into account the cost of petrol.”

Chris Ringwood, of Patient Voice in Banbury, said: “ The big problem is that those people who are having to visit the hospital on a regular basis resent the parking charges.”

An ORH spokesman said the variation in charges was because there was less public transport at the Horton.

She said the trust was cited as an example of good practice by Macmillan Cancer Care for the parking arrangements for cancer patients, adding: “We offer a range of free or discounted parking to a wide range of patient and visitor groups.”

She added: “We feel that our car parking systems operate in the most effective and fair way possible, within the constraints set, and our patient feedback supports this. However, we’re not complacent and are always looking at how to improve further.”

eallen@oxfordmail.co.uk