Reasons given by the board for the introduction of charges

Chief Executive, Suzanne Rankin, explains: “Introducing these charges is not a decision that has been taken lightly and is one of a number of measures we are taking to maintain and protect patient care by raising some additional income. While the Board considered the introduction of charging two and a half years ago, and chose not to do so at that time, I want to be completely honest about the reasons we felt we had to put this back onto the table. Unfortunately, the financial climate we now find ourselves in has become significantly more challenging and increasing our parking charges is just one of a number of measures we are introducing across our hospitals to support our savings plans and ensure that our central funding is focused on the delivery of patient care.” Any patient or visitor, abled bodied or otherwise, who is entitled to have their parking costs reimbursed will continue to receive free parking as they do now and the Trust also has a range of parking concessions for people visiting on a frequent basis (for example patients receiving cancer treatment, cardiac rehabilitation and parents of young babies in our neonatal intensive care unit). Medical Director, Dr David Fluck continues: “Parking charges at NHS hospitals is always a contentious issue. And while we know everyone won’t agree with this decision, we feel it’s critical we do everything we can in this climate of constrained public finances and growing demand to protect our clinical services. Aiming for equity and fairness towards all patients and visitors has always been an important consideration for the Board and has been an important driver behind this decision. Charging will now be based on affordability rather than on eligibility for a blue badge and we want to make sure it’s as easy as possible for any patient or visitor entitled to free parking to have their costs reimbursed in a smooth and timely way. We hope this will reflect a ‘fairness to all’ approach which supports those in most financial need whoever they are and whatever their capabilities.” Suzanne adds: “We have already discussed this with a number of stakeholders including our Governors and patient representatives, and this week met with our Disability Group which comprises patients and representatives from disability groups across the local area. Although people didn’t agree with the decision, we had a productive debate around the financial pressures we find ourselves in with many good ideas and suggestions put forward to ease implementation and ensure we support our most vulnerable patients and visitors. Improved communication, easier access to reclaiming parking costs and improving access into our car parks were all suggestions we have agreed to look at over the next few weeks. We will delay implementation of our new charging structure until we have completed our review and put in place some of the most immediate actions. I would like to thank all those who came and participated in such a frank discussion and look forward to continuing to work with members of the group on all disability and access issues.”