End the scourge of hospital car parking charges.
Published Jul 18, 2017
75 members of staff, including nurses at the University Hospital of Wales
in Cardiff, lost a court battle against Indigo Park Services, which manages car
parks on the site and face fines and fees running into tens of thousands
of pounds which could result in bankruptcy and in some cases them losing their
homes.
Margot Parker MEP, the UKIP spokesman for Women and Equalities has called
for politicians from all sides to find the collective will to scrap the
controversial charge.
The doctors and nurses have been ordered to pay an initial £39,000 in outstanding parking charges and £26,000 in court costs after a judge at the civil justice court ruled they must pay £128 per ticket.
The doctors and nurses have been ordered to pay an initial £39,000 in outstanding parking charges and £26,000 in court costs after a judge at the civil justice court ruled they must pay £128 per ticket.
Margot Parker said: “This is a stealth tax on being sick and it’s a
stealth tax on hard-working doctors and nurses. It should be abolished – it’s
scandalous.
She said, "to prevent misuse of hospital car parks all that was needed
was a barrier with an access system for patients and staff. Other places manage
it – it can’t be difficult for hospitals to do the same. The situation staff in
Cardiff have found themselves in has brought the whole subject to boiling
point.
Hard-working nurses are quitting, or ending up with CCJs – these people
save lives. This cannot go on. We for many years opposed hospital car parking
charges – they even affect carers, who have a tough enough time as it is without
expecting them to fork out every time they offer up their time to visit someone
in hospital.
It’s about time we mobilised forces and pressured the Government to get
rid of these charges once and for
all.”
