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Hospital car parking changes to be implemented |
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Friday, 18 January 2008 |
New guidance on hospital car parking and the introduction of a maximum charge must be implemented without delay, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon said today.
The review group recommended a maximum charge, but said that further
analysis was needed to determine what that charge should be.
As an interim measure, boards were advised at the end of last year that
they will not be able to charge more than £3 a day for hospital car
parking.
The revised guidance, issued to health boards today, states that boards
must operate a presumption against charging and, where charging is
used, all reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that these charges
are not excessive for people working at or visiting a hospital.
One of the key principles of the guidance is that NHS Boards have a
responsibility to work with local and regional partners to help to
ensure good access for patients, carers, visitors and staff to NHS
sites, and the guidance also states that at most NHS sites car parking
should be provided free of charge.
The review group that drew up the guidance, however, also said that
boards could make reasonable charges for car parking as part of a
planned approach to facilitating access to sites, and to cover the
costs of car park provision.
Recommendations said that boards must ensure that there is a reasonable
allocation of car parking spaces available to allow patients and carers
to attend clinics and appointments, including access for emergencies,
and that there is a reasonable allocation of spaces is also made
available for staff.
Guidance also states that boards should not look at parking management
in isolation, but should consider wider travel and access issues.
Schemes which impose uniform charges and conditions across a number of
sites are not acceptable under the new guidance.
Sturgeon said: "The review group has endorsed the view that in general,
car parking at hospitals should be provided free of charge.
"It also came to the conclusion that a maximum charge should be set,
and in order to protect against unnecessary or excessive charges in the
meantime, I decided in December to introduce a cap of £3 a day, which
boards should implement without delay.
"Evidence from a number of health boards shows that charging high daily
rates is not the only way to discourage or control unauthorised parking
and I agree with the group's recommendation that all other avenues
should be explored before charges are introduced.
"I hope that this guidance reassures those staff, patients and visitors
who have had concerns about parking charges, and that we see fairer,
more affordable schemes in place across Scotland."
One person has commented on this article. 1. Hospital car parking changes to be implemented
Charlie, Unregistered Please could our Scottish Government be bold in its policy making and influence a policy where car park charges are used to provide state of the art facilities for cyclists - you may laugh now but future generations will see it differently.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 18 January 2008 )
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