Author Topic: Hospital parking fines are 'sick tax' targeting the most vulnerable says Halton  (Read 1875 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline BGB

  • Follower
  • **
  • Posts: 662
Hospital parking fines are 'sick tax' targeting the most vulnerable says Halton councillor

CRITICS of hospitals charging patients hefty parking fines have turned up the heat on Warrington And Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHHT) and contractor Highview Parking.
 
Following last week’s story in the Weekly News about cardiac patient Joan Reynolds, a pensioner, being charged a £40 penalty over a ticket she insisted she paid, a councillor and another angry motorist have been in touch to share their experiences.
 
Cllr Dave Thompson, Labour, has written to Mel Pickup, WHHT chief executive, to lay into the ‘unjust and aggressive’ parking regime.
 
In his 1,274-word broadside, the Halton Lea ward Labour councillor said the fines of up to £75 faced by motorists and patients visiting Halton and Warrington hospitals were far more than other NHS facilities, such as at Whiston and St Helens – where he said the maximum penalty was £6 – and Countess Of Chester – where it is £7 unless someone wrongly parks in a disabled space, in which case the charge is £30.
 
In addition, Cllr Thompson has produced a photograph of a sign warning that vehicles parking at Halton General Hospital’s urgent care centre can be clamped – even though clamping on private land was banned three years ago.

In an appendix of ‘shocking’ case studies of patients who insist they have paid for tickets yet still been given £40 and £75 fines, Cllr Thompson referred to complaints from hospital visitors.
 
On moneysavingexpert.com, a carer for two disabled patients – one terminally ill and other with complex physical and mental needs – said they were facing up to £225 in three fines after being fined for parking at Halton General to visit minor injuries then being diverted to Warrington for an X-ray, only to leave and be called to return. The visit had been triggered by one of the patients having cardiac issues and suffering cardiac issues due to falls.
 


On the motoring pressure group website PePiPoo.com, one forum user wrote that his grandfather had rushed to an appointment and did not have time to input his registration number on the machine and instead bought a ticket when leaving. He then received a fine from the’ car park contractor, Highview Parking.
 
The poster said his grandad suffered a recent heart attack and despite having beaten two previous penalties on appeal, did not feel he could do it a third time.
 
A ‘pensioner on benefits’ posted on the NHS Choices website that they had to travel 45 miles to Warrington Hospital for treatment, and took their ticket to a cash office to claim travel allowance, only to be fined £75 as though they had not paid for a ticket.

Cllr Thompson added that WHHT had entered a contract with Highview Parking shortly before the Department Of Health published its guidance on charges, in which it stated that visitors should be able to park ‘as safely, conveniently and economically as possible’ and that ‘charges should be a reasonable as possible’.
 
He said that patients were suffering ‘distress and upset’ and that Highview Parking threatens those who do not pay with court costs and uses a debt collection agency to chase up the fees.
 
This was despite 62% of appeals being found in favour of visitors, according to the adjudicator.
 
Cllr Thompson said the system was hitting ‘vulnerable’ visitors on low incomes or facing illness and disability.
 
One driver, from Runcorn, was fined £75 after he overstayed by 13 minutes – £5.77 per minute.
 
Also this week, cardiac patient Eric Boardman contacted the Weekly News after he decided to appeal against a £40-£75 fine from Highview Parking.
 
He said he was ‘quite distressed’ to discover he faced a demand for £40 when he had paid £3 for a ticket.
 
In his letter to Ms Pickup, Cllr Thompson said: “As far as I am concerned, Warrington and Halton hospital patients and visitors are wrongly being targeted for an exploitative ‘sick tax’ and I call upon you to respond to this situation by ... ceasing the practice of penalising patients and their families.”
 
A WHHT spokesman said that the system was based on ‘national industry standards’ and that the main reasons for patients being fined is human error in inputting their registration.
 
He said: “All you need to do is enter your full registration number and pay for the time used or that you intend to use. All users must pay for their parking and fixed penalties are only in place if a user doesn’t pay.
 
“Parking time commences from when you enter the site, not from when you actually park your car, and finishes as you drive off the site. If you believe you are going to overstay you can purchase another ticket to cover the additional time.
 
“We have taken our time in introducing this system and our prices have remained the same at a maximum charge of £5 for a full day which is less than the costs for a day’s parking at the other local hospital sites which are the costs that Cllr Thompson refers to in his letter.
 
“Most sites have other fines in place for breach of systems.”


http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/incoming/hospital-parking-fines-sick-tax-9572270

Offline BGB

  • Follower
  • **
  • Posts: 662
Parking time commences from when you enter the site, not from when you actually park your car, and finishes as you drive off the site"

If the charge is for entering the site, not parking, then it is an "entering charge", not a "parking charge"

 


Supporters of the NoToMob

In order to view this object you need Flash Player 9+ support!

Get Adobe Flash player