Patients get the parking blues

It used to be that having a blue badge pretty much guaranteed you free parking if you had to attend a hospital appointment. But times have changed, NHS trusts are suffering huge deficits and it seems one sure way of making money is to charge everyone for parking and that includes blue badge holders too!

One hospital to introduce charging for disabled people is Coventry’s University Hospital. Dr Martin Lee, interim chief executive of the trust, says: “As a doctor I could no longer agree to subsidise car parking from healthcare budgets. This is money that we cannot afford to lose from patient care.” Under the new scheme, parking costs £3 for up to two hours, rising to £10 for up to 24 hours. However, parking is still free if you receive a means-tested benefit, but the current system means people have to pay and reclaim their parking charges each time they visit the hospital.

At Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, the system is similar to Coventry whereby only blue badge holders on means-tested benefits don’t have to pay for parking, but here patients have to bring all their benefit documents with them. Heartlands patient Harry Farrer claims this means he has to walk a considerable distance to present his blue badge and documents to the ticket office before he’s even got to his appointment.

There is the argument that disabled people have the same ability to pay as everyone else, but what disabled people don’t have is choice. Douglas Campbell, chair of the charity Mobilise, says: “Even if disabled people don’t receive a means-tested benefit they probably have to attend a higher number of hospital appointments, and unlike non-disabled people, cannot jump on a bike or catch the bus. All that will happen is more disabled people will demand hospital transport and this will cost more than allowing all disabled people to park for free.”

To add to the confusion, parking entitlements are different depending on which hospital you attend. Whereas some hospitals charge their blue badge holders to park, others still allow disabled people to park for free. A spokesperson from the Department of Health says: “It is a matter for individual NHS trusts to decide whether or not to charge for car parking, and set the level of charges in the light of local circumstances. Often there will be special arrangements for certain types of patients or visitors giving concessions or exemption from charges.”

This variation in charging across the country is not only confusing for people who have to attend different hospitals but it is also unfair. It seems the postcode lottery on healthcare provision extends to free disabled parking as well.