My daughter who is 5 has a respiratory condition called Cystic Fibrosis. We are required to have regular weekly and monthly appointments at PCH to maintain the health of our daughter.

Public transport is not a viable option for us.

Among many other commuters, I arrived at QII/PCH Wednesday the 3rd of March at 9:40am for a 10am appointment.

The traffic was bedlam and the 20 minute wait to even get into QII parking was ridiculous. As more and more cars were let in, there were copious cars circulating with no where to park.

I amongst many others were then re-directed out of the car park and were told there won’t be any parking for at least an hour. I then preceded to park at PCH which was full and had a line in both lanes.

I watched the time go by and envisioned my essential appointment slip away. An appointment that takes months to get and has a lengthy list of patients who also have appointments.

I drove down side streets, all parking full. I checked with CFWA our NGO, all visitor parking taken. I drove around for 1.5 hours until finally a spot became available at the Orthodontist dental parking (somewhere that I did not have a permit for) but by this stage I had to take what I could get.

With my heart beating out of my chest, the memories of the stressful parking times at PMH came flooding back. I thought when PCH was built, those days of having to fight over a car space was gone.

After parking I went up to the desk of where I needed to be and bursted into tears.

For on this day I had 2 appointments, one being at 10am to discuss my daughter (she was not with me) and one essential clinic appointment at 1pm where my daughter would present to her team - respiratory doctor, physiotherapist and cf nurses.

The thought of having to drive back to collect my daughter from school to come back to what I considered a nightmare was sickening.

I spoke with the health professional and arrangements were then made to have a telephone appointment at 1pm to avoid coming back. This meant my daughter missed crucial examinations and assessments. I also was unable to retrieve an essential script and would have to come back the next day to collect my daughters medication from the pharmacy.

I was not the only one who experienced this and lately according to other CF parents, they have been experiencing similar events.

I wish to bring a spotlight onto to this matter and create awareness and highlight this matter to essential key stakeholders.

Adequate parking will ensure appointments run on time and are kept.

Adequate parking will ensure the the time of health professionals is not wasted.

Adequate parking will reduce the burden of stress and anxiety for families who already experience stress and anxiety on a daily basis.

Adequate parking will ensure our children who have serious life threatening illnesses will be reviewed by essential health professionals.

I thank you for your time and offering your support.