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	TX: 17.03.08 - Hospital Parking PRESENTER: LIZ BARCLAY

	Downloaded from www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE 麻豆约拍 CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. BARCLAY Now we've reported on the problems disabled drivers with blue badges have parking in supermarket car parks and on double yellow lines in the vicinity of CCTV but perhaps more surprising is that they have problems parking at hospitals and other health facilities. The disability organisation Mobilise, formerly the Disabled Drivers Association, and the Disabled Drivers Motor Club, has carried out a national survey and Helen Smith, who's director of policy and campaigns, joins us to reveal the results. Helen, what did the survey uncover? SMITH Well quite shockingly we found that people were actually missing out on their hospital appointments because they just would turn up, could not find anywhere to park and have to go home again and that's really worrying when people are missing out on healthcare because they just cannot park. We also had people saying it took them so long to park that they were extremely late for their appointment, which caused other problems in the clinic, or they were just told they couldn't be seen. And we are really worried that disabled people are missing out because of this. BARCLAY And I think you discovered that many hospitals are charging disabled people for parking, how common is that? SMITH It's about sort of 20% of the hospitals are now charging badge holders to park. What we're also finding is that some hospitals provide a certain number of free blue badge spaces but if all those are taken and patients have to park somewhere else they are then charged. This causes more problems for people like myself, who's a bilateral arm amputee, where we have to use things like parking meters, it's just impossible, it's make a situation that is already difficult impossible and we would like this to be looked at. BARCLAY And there are variations around the UK aren't there, they're trying to cut out parking charges in Wales but what about Scotland and Northern Ireland? SMITH Well in Scotland there is actually a cap of £3 a day, whereas in England they can still charge up to £4 an hour. In Northern Ireland it's like in England is left up to local managers to decide. But a review of the policy is currently being carried out. BARCLAY Well Mark Holdstock has been to meet one disabled person, Bernard Blagtone, who's had his share of parking problems at his local hospital in Scarborough. BLAGTONE This is the road down to the entrance into the hospital and the only disabled car parking spaces are two against the ticket machine and one, two, three - another four to the right. If they're all full you've then got to run round and try and find somewhere else. HOLDSTOCK So you've found a space today, what's the situation normally like? BLAGTONE The main thing I've been coming for is treatment for eye complaints that I've got. The car parking isn't big enough for the size of the hospital and the number of disabled bays at the side of all the other parking bays again isn't enough. HOLDSTOCK You have a badge entitling you to use disabled bays, why is that? BLAGTONE Because I also have angina which makes walking distances rather difficult. I soon get out of breath, some days I'm lucky and don't need to walk - use a walking stick and some days I rely quite heavily on a walking stick. I've been coming for treatment over the eye complaint now something in excess of 25 years, over the majority of that period there was no charge for parking but approximately four years ago the NHS trust in their wisdom said that they were going to have to follow other hospitals and start charging for car parking. HOLDSTOCK And where did that leave blue badge holders? BLAGTONE They had to pay as well. Having found a parking position now we need to buy a ticket so that we can park legitimately. HOLDSTOCK What's the worst experience you've ever had here? BLAGTONE That I've driven round and round the circuit that I took you initially about four times which took something like 20-25 minutes. So I finished up parking out on the main road on double yellow lines, which I don't like doing because it can inconvenience other traffic. We now go into the main entrance and proceed to the reception. HOLDSTOCK So we're going to have to walk through to another section of the hospital? BLAGTONE Yeah. HOLDSTOCK What kind of problems do you have walking then? BLAGTONE Getting tightness in the chest which is one of the signs of angina. HOLDSTOCK So you can't walk great distances? BLAGTONE You can't walk quick and you can't walk a long way no. HOLDSTOCK And there we are just up ahead, there's a sign saying General Office. BLAGTONE General Office, yeah. When you arrive at this point you explain that you're on guaranteed benefit credits and you have to prove that and you have to give proof that you've come for an appointment. After that's been checked you then get a refund of any payment. HOLDSTOCK Why should it be that blue badge holders should be exempt from paying for parking, after all everybody else has to pay? BLAGTONE Lots of people, as you'll appreciate, all have blue badges are on low income and they have to watch very carefully what their expenses go out on. I do know people that haven't come for medical treatment because they couldn't afford to come. HOLDSTOCK Was this essential medical treatment? BLAGTONE No it was follow up treatment, they just didn't bother turning up. HOLDSTOCK So you've walked from the main reception here to the General Office, what sort of distance do you think that is? BLAGTONE In lifts or stairs and the walking I would think approaching a third of a mile and obviously to get back to the car you've got that distance to travel again. And you are literally worn out at the end of it. BARCLAY Bernard Blagtone. Helen Smith is still with us and we're joined by Brenda Hennessey, director of patient experience and public engagement at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, which raises £2 million a year from car parking charges. Brenda, 6 out of 10 people in the survey said they found hospital parking difficult or impossible and 7 out of 10 said they felt that parking for blue badge users should be free. You charge blue badge users if they park in a standard bay, why do you find that that's necessary? HENNESSEY We have a standard charge for all patients and visitors who use our car parks. Our patients only pay £3 a day when they come to hospital and we have a scale for visitors, depending on how long they're here. I think it's important to note that if patients are on low income or are frequent attenders, for example dialysis patients or oncology patients, then there are concessions. And certainly people on low income can have their money refunded. BARCLAY But are you dependent on this £2 million that you raise each year from car parking charges, how important is that in the overall scheme of the budget? HENNESSEY Well we provide and will provide by the time our new multi-storey car park opens next month over 2,500 car parking spaces for patients and visitors and for staff. If we're going to provide car parks for all these groups of people then we think that those car parks have to be safe, they have to be a high standard, we have to make sure that when people are leaving the hospital in the middle of the night they can go back to their cars safely and that costs money, all the money that we raise goes back into car parking or enhancement for patients related to travel. And I don't believe that that's money that should come out of the NHS which has been designated for patient care. BARCLAY Helen Smith the Department of Health told us that any further subsidy of hospital car parking would have an impact on the amount of investment available for the provision of health services. Parking charges are an important source of revenue for hospitals, isn't it better that NHS money should be spent on healthcare rather than maintaining car parks? SMITH Well what worries me though is if people are missing appointments that costs money. If people aren't getting treatment for their health then that costs money. If people start asking for hospital transport because they can't park or can't afford to park then that costs considerably more money. Maybe you know you have to look at the overall picture and decide then whether blue badge holders should have to pay. BARCLAY So what do you want to see done? SMITH I think that all blue badge holders should have free parking and also a lot of our members that were surveyed said that they thought any patient should receive free parking. Is it right, as well, that disabled people that are attending perhaps one appointment a week should be paying that kind of money, it's a huge amount out of people that are living on benefits. BARCLAY Brenda Hennessey, should there be a national policy on this? HENNESSEY I think we should continue to charge for car parking because if you take, for example, the £2 million that we raise and put back into car parking that's the equivalent of about 400 hip replacements or 15,000 radiotherapy attendances. And as a taxpayer I'd rather my money went to that rather than car parking. I think it's important to make it very clear that for people who are on low income, who are on benefits, then they get all their travel costs refunded. I'm very, very sympathetic, my father was a disabled badge holder but there isn't a direct correlation between a blue badge holder and the frequency of attendances at hospital or indeed a case of need and if there is a case of need and frequent attendances then people can get refunds or have concessionary rates. BARCLAY Brenda Hennessey and Helen Smith thank you both. Back to the Transcripts homepage Back to the You and Yours homepage The 麻豆约拍 is not responsible for external websites

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