Kidderminster hospital parking fees plan protests
Wednesday 26th October 2011, 6:59PM BST.
Elderly and disabled people are set to descend on Kidderminster Hospital as they launch a campaign against proposals to charge them to park there.
Disabled blue badge holders can park in spaces near the hospital for free.
Bosses say the spaces will remain but drivers will instead have to pay the same price as everyone else.
Disability Action Wyre Forest and the Worcestershire Pensioners Action Group will gather next month to get the plans overturned. They will hold “action days” at Kidderminster and Worcestershire Royal hospitals.
Mark Lawley, chairman of Disability Action, said: “This is not just something that affects a few disabled people – 60 per cent of disabled people are over 60 so we have got the pensioners’ group on board too.”
The cheapest parking ticket – for two hours – costs £3, rising to £4.50 for four hours. Chris Tidman, acting chief executive for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: “In line with many other hospitals, the trust is planning to implement a consistent approach to car parking charges for all of our patients, which will include blue badge holders.”
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WHY should anyone have to pay to park at any hospital?? Why??
We the tax payers paid for the carpark to be built.It belongs to the tax payer NOT the NHS Trust.
Screw, Screw, Screw, that is ALL Britain is about.
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I echo your comments English Exile, but the sad fact is the NHS is now run as a business and to make profit, hence charging for parking is an easy revenue stream.
NHS staff have to pay to park at their place of work too!
I have to say though that the charging of use of Blue Badge spots is beyond the pale
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Can we just get something straight. Being a pensioner or having a disability does not always equate to being hardup ( I now fall into one of those groups as do my inlaws, but I can’t stand up and say I/we are in need of free parking because of it). There are many many social groups out there trying and struggling to live on tiny incomes – who should benifit? who is the most deserving? Like the comment above frankly no one should have to pay to park. I bet you that the people that man these car parks get the very lowest rates of pay to maximise the huge profits. I belive we should all try our hardest to travel to such venues on public transport or via park and ride systems, lets face it they take you almost to the door. However this is Camerons future getting tougher and deeper into the realms of private provision – Folks you haven’t seen nothing yet. Soon our land will be known not as England but “New America” becuse thats what the Tories want, US style everything!
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