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Hospital car parking fees abolished in Scotland

02/09/2008

People parking their cars at NHS hospitals across Scotland will no longer be charged for doing so under new plans unveiled by the Holyrood government.

From December 31st onwards car parking fees will be scrapped at 14 hospitals across Scotland, although three PFI hospitals are not affected.

Scottish health secretary and deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the move would reaffirm the NHS' founding principle of free-at-the-point-of-delivery healthcare

"In this 60th anniversary year of NHS Scotland, I am determined that the founding principles of our health service remain intact," she said.

"Chief among these is that the NHS should be free at the point of delivery and it is my firm belief that this should apply whether one comes to hospital as a patient, visitor or a member of staff.

"It's simply not fair to expect patients or visitors to have to pay when they come to hospital, when they may be suffering personal anxiety, stress or grief. Put bluntly, a car parking charge is often the last thing people need."

The British Medical Association (BMA) Scotland welcomed the move, dubbing car park charges at hospitals as an "indirect tax on healthcare".

"The founding principle of the NHS is that healthcare should be free at the point of delivery and we are pleased that the Scottish government has recognised the financial burden that these charges have put on patients and their relatives when they are at their most vulnerable," said Dr Charles Saunders, chairman of the BMA's Scottish consultants committee.

A Department of Health (Doh) spokesperson said there were no plans to follow suit in England and Wales.

"We do not think it a sensible use of limited resources to subsidise car parking at hospitals for everyone. Our priority is the safety and speed of healthcare - one of the reasons that in England waiting times are shorter," the DoH said.

"In England, hospital car parking charges are decided locally by individual trusts to cover the cost of running and maintaining a car park.

"All trusts should have exemption and concessionary schemes in place to ensure that patients and carers who visit hospital regularly are not disadvantaged. They should also have sustainable public transport plans in place for staff and visitors."