Stephen Metcalfe MP: speaks out against unfair hospital car
parking charges
Local MP
for South Basildon & East Thurrock, Stephen Metcalfe spoke out recently
against “unfair and unfathomable” hospital car parking charges. Speaking in
yesterday’s Daily Express, he backed the national campaign calling for an end
to what has become a “stealth tax on the poor and the vulnerable”.
Stephen
Metcalfe commented: “The national average for one day’s parking is just over
£7. One hospital in Bristol charges £12 for 4 hours and another in Crawley
demands £25 a day. The charges are also not transparent. No-one knows what the
money is spent on, or why hospitals increase the charges year after year.
For those
who say car parking charges are vital income for hospitals, they need to answer
why 25 per cent of hospitals charge nothing at all, and why there is such
variation between not only regions but even neighbouring hospitals.
It is clear
that with fewer bureaucrats, and extending the use of generic drugs where
possible, NHS hospitals would have enough money to scrap these fees without
affecting patient care.”
Stephen
Metcalfe was also particularly critical about the impacts that these charges
have on both older people and cancer patients. He commented: “Macmillan has
found that 10 per cent of hospitals offer cancer patients no discount and
continue to charge them the full rate of parking. This is despite the fact that
for many people with cancer it is essential they use a car, as immunity
problems make using public transport dangerous.”
“This stealth tax must go and hospital bosses need to stop using vulnerable patients as easy revenue”
