Parking charges campaign
Evening Telegraph and Post
Dundee councillor Neil Powrie, a long- standing opponent of parking charges at Ninewells Hospital, today called for a public campaign to force the Scottish Executive to take over control of parking in hospital grounds, writes Bruce Robbins.
Responding to a decision yesterday by Tayside health chiefs to raise parking charges at Ninewells, Mr Powrie said the health trust had been left with a problem of its own making and forcing the sick to pay for it.
He described as “reprehensible” the decision by a previous trust board to introduce parking charges and predicted that people would not stand for it.
NHS Tayside yesterday agreed by a majority that parking charges would be raised to up to £15 per visit for some drivers in a bid to free up spaces in the car parks closest to the hospital.
Chairman Peter Bates said the £15 charge would act as a “disincentive” by limiting the duration of parking at car parks five and six to four hours. Only people staying beyond that time would be hit with the increased rate.
The trust’s decision did not meet with universal acceptance with non-executive board members Iain Wightman and Dr Bob Rosbottom disassociating themselves from the recommendation.
Today, Mr Powrie said increased charges were not the answer to Ninewells’ parking problems and he was “disappointed” at the decision.
He said, “I would disagree with the view that creating more car parking on the site is not an option because the fact that we are in this situation is a direct result of the policies that have been pursued by successive trust boards.
“If we hadn’t sold off the family silver to Stewart Milne Homes so that they could build houses on NHS land we might not be in this position. That was something I never agreed with.
“The trust should never have sold off hospital ground for housing when they didn’t know what future developments might be around the corner.
“The principal of charging at all is something I can’t agree with. Congestion is caused in the main by people driving around looking for car parking spaces.
“Charging, whether it’s a penny or £15, doesn’t help. If patients and visitors need to visit the hospital, they need to visit the hospital and parking charges won’t stop them.
“I don’t see how people should be forced onto the bus because they can’t afford to pay for parking. It’s not the job of the NHS to help the Government get people onto buses.”
Mr Powrie claimed it was “immoral” to charge for parking at a hospital and said the Scottish Executive should now be looking at ways of regaining control of the situation.
He added, “We pay three times: for prescriptions, national insurance and car parking. Every one is a tax on the ill.
“This is the fault of the Government for letting trusts hive off car parking to foreign companies. Parking should not be in the hands of foreign companies for 30 years. It was a reprehensible decision by the previous trust to do that.
“People won’t put up with this. I have been contacted by people from other parts of Tayside, including community council chairpersons, asking what can be done.
“What we need is a public campaign to persuade Scottish Executive ministers to take back control of parking in hospital grounds.”
Dundee City Council finance convener Councillor Fraser Macpherson said he, too, had received “strong feedback” from constituents in the city’s West End against the new parking charges.
Cllr Macpherson said that constituents felt that the proposals represented a stealth tax on patients, patients’ visitors and staff at the hospital and there was great concern that large increases in parking charges would have the detrimental effect of adding to the existing parking problems in streets in the West End as motorists try to avoid paying the charges.
He said, “It’s clear that many people feel it is morally wrong to be imposing these levels of charges on hospital patients and visitors.
“There is increasing disquiet about the increasing charges for parking for patients and patients’ visitors, not just here in Dundee but right across the country.
“Health provision is supposed to be free at the point of delivery but it appears patients have to pay increasing sums simply to park near that point of delivery.
“There is something deeply wrong with what is essentially a tax on needing to attend hospital or visiting a loved one who is ill.”
Councillor Macpherson urged Scots Health Minister Andy Kerr to build a “coherent strategy” for hospital parking in Scotland.
Meanwhile, a disabled woman who regularly visits Ninewells has complained about the new parking rate for disabled parking, which is now £1.50 for four hours.
She said, “They are saying they are going to bring in a charge of £1.50 per four hours, which seems to be once again a tax on the seriously ill.
“It is not so bad for me as I am in a wheelchair but you can’t always tell who is disabled and who is not.
“This is going to mean that it will be like the situation in Perth where nobody can get a parking space anywhere and local residents are struggling to find places.
“There are not enough places as it is and this is going to make it much worse for disabled people.
“It really is targeting the most vulnerable.”
Dundee councillor Neil Powrie, a long- standing opponent of parking charges at Ninewells Hospital, today called for a public campaign to force the Scottish Executive to take over control of parking in hospital grounds, writes Bruce Robbins.
Responding to a decision yesterday by Tayside health chiefs to raise parking charges at Ninewells, Mr Powrie said the health trust had been left with a problem of its own making and forcing the sick to pay for it.
He described as “reprehensible” the decision by a previous trust board to introduce parking charges and predicted that people would not stand for it.
NHS Tayside yesterday agreed by a majority that parking charges would be raised to up to £15 per visit for some drivers in a bid to free up spaces in the car parks closest to the hospital.
Chairman Peter Bates said the £15 charge would act as a “disincentive” by limiting the duration of parking at car parks five and six to four hours. Only people staying beyond that time would be hit with the increased rate.
The trust’s decision did not meet with universal acceptance with non-executive board members Iain Wightman and Dr Bob Rosbottom disassociating themselves from the recommendation.
Today, Mr Powrie said increased charges were not the answer to Ninewells’ parking problems and he was “disappointed” at the decision.
He said, “I would disagree with the view that creating more car parking on the site is not an option because the fact that we are in this situation is a direct result of the policies that have been pursued by successive trust boards.
“If we hadn’t sold off the family silver to Stewart Milne Homes so that they could build houses on NHS land we might not be in this position. That was something I never agreed with.
“The trust should never have sold off hospital ground for housing when they didn’t know what future developments might be around the corner.
“The principal of charging at all is something I can’t agree with. Congestion is caused in the main by people driving around looking for car parking spaces.
“Charging, whether it’s a penny or £15, doesn’t help. If patients and visitors need to visit the hospital, they need to visit the hospital and parking charges won’t stop them.
“I don’t see how people should be forced onto the bus because they can’t afford to pay for parking. It’s not the job of the NHS to help the Government get people onto buses.”
Mr Powrie claimed it was “immoral” to charge for parking at a hospital and said the Scottish Executive should now be looking at ways of regaining control of the situation.
He added, “We pay three times: for prescriptions, national insurance and car parking. Every one is a tax on the ill.
“This is the fault of the Government for letting trusts hive off car parking to foreign companies. Parking should not be in the hands of foreign companies for 30 years. It was a reprehensible decision by the previous trust to do that.
“People won’t put up with this. I have been contacted by people from other parts of Tayside, including community council chairpersons, asking what can be done.
“What we need is a public campaign to persuade Scottish Executive ministers to take back control of parking in hospital grounds.”
Dundee City Council finance convener Councillor Fraser Macpherson said he, too, had received “strong feedback” from constituents in the city’s West End against the new parking charges.
Cllr Macpherson said that constituents felt that the proposals represented a stealth tax on patients, patients’ visitors and staff at the hospital and there was great concern that large increases in parking charges would have the detrimental effect of adding to the existing parking problems in streets in the West End as motorists try to avoid paying the charges.
He said, “It’s clear that many people feel it is morally wrong to be imposing these levels of charges on hospital patients and visitors.
“There is increasing disquiet about the increasing charges for parking for patients and patients’ visitors, not just here in Dundee but right across the country.
“Health provision is supposed to be free at the point of delivery but it appears patients have to pay increasing sums simply to park near that point of delivery.
“There is something deeply wrong with what is essentially a tax on needing to attend hospital or visiting a loved one who is ill.”
Councillor Macpherson urged Scots Health Minister Andy Kerr to build a “coherent strategy” for hospital parking in Scotland.
Meanwhile, a disabled woman who regularly visits Ninewells has complained about the new parking rate for disabled parking, which is now £1.50 for four hours.
She said, “They are saying they are going to bring in a charge of £1.50 per four hours, which seems to be once again a tax on the seriously ill.
“It is not so bad for me as I am in a wheelchair but you can’t always tell who is disabled and who is not.
“This is going to mean that it will be like the situation in Perth where nobody can get a parking space anywhere and local residents are struggling to find places.
“There are not enough places as it is and this is going to make it much worse for disabled people.
“It really is targeting the most vulnerable.”
posted by Neil Herron at 11:25 AM
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