Atualização do abaixo-assinadoStop Ashford & St Peter's Hospital Trust Charging Blue Badge Holders For Parking

Ashford & St Peters Hospital response to open letter

Caroline WilliamsHersham, ENG, Reino Unido
5 de abr. de 2017 — Response: Open Letter to Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals, dated 31.03.2017 We would like to respond to the points raised by the above letter, sent by Caroline Williams. First I’d like to say to all your readers that as a Board we really appreciate the strength of feeling on this matter and introducing parking charges for blue badge holders is not a decision we took lightly. The financial climate we find ourselves in is increasingly challenging and this is one of a number of measures we are introducing to raise additional income and protect patient care. Another important point to make is that the charges for blue badge holders will be based on affordability, exactly as they are for other users of our car parks. Patients, including disabled patients, in receipt of certain benefits – see www.nhs.uk/healthcosts for full details - are eligible to reclaim the cost of travel and parking related to healthcare, through a nationally agreed NHS scheme. Those on low incomes not in receipt of these benefits may also apply through the NHS Low Income Scheme to see if they are eligible to reclaim costs. Responding to the specific questions posed in the letter: 1 The Boards of both Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Surrey County Hospital Foundation Trust took the decision last November not to go ahead with the proposed merger. The cost to this Trust of merger planning work was £2.4m and while we appreciate it is a large sum of money, going ahead with the merger was not in the best interests of our patients at that time. However, this investment did support a range of collaborative work which is now being taken forward through the Sustainability and Transformation Plan partnership across Surrey Heartlands. These historic costs, however, have no bearing on our decision to introduce charges, which are about protecting our budgets for patient care now and in the future. 2 There are other Trusts nationally who charge blue badge holders to park; we are not alone in taking this decision. 3 This decision was made by the Board and discussed with our Disability Group, which includes representatives from the Surrey Coalition of Disabled People, the Disability Alliance Network and others. Although the group did not agree with the decision, we had a productive debate primarily about the financial pressures faced by the Trust and ways we might smooth implementation of the charges and ensure our most vulnerable patients and visitors are aware of the support available to them. 4 In terms of whether our receptionists could deal with issuing refunds for eligible patients, rather than the Cashier’s Office, this is unfortunately not possible from a practical and security perspective. The Cashier’s Office is securely set up to handle and process money, whereas our reception area is a busy open space with no privacy. However, listening to feedback from our Disability Group and recognising the need to limit movement around our hospitals for those with mobility issues, we are looking to improve our system offering blue badge holders who are eligible to claim parking costs the ability to pre-book a number of tickets in advance. We have also agreed to improve communication on all parking concessions and will continue working with the group to improve access to our hospitals, building on the improvements we have made over the last few years. In addition, the Trust offers concessionary parking for those receiving chemotherapy, parents of babies in our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and for those on cardiac rehabilitation programmes. Whilst re-iterating this was not an easy decision to take, it is a necessary one to protect services for all our patients in the future. Aileen McLeish Chairman
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