CANCER patients have been given a lift thanks to a decision by hospital chiefs to scrap parking charges for the seriously ill.
From next Thursday, there will be free parking for certain categories of patients, particularly cancer patients and those having to attend Grimsby's Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital regularly.
Parents staying over night to be with poorly children will also have concessions on parking. But the free parking for some patients, including those with long term conditions such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes and heart failure, will be paid for by a general increase in parking charges as well as a reduction in the free parking period from 40 to 20 minutes.
Some patients and visitors claimed the new system was unfair, but most patients' groups welcomed the move and said it showed hospital chiefs were listening to their campaign. Lung cancer sufferer Dave Thompson, 71, of Larmour Road, Grimsby, said: "There are a lot of people being charged a lot to park. When you have to go several times a week, it all adds up."
The retired sheet-metal factory director said: "I have always paid and that has sometimes been a total of £12 a month. It is a good thing if it is going to be free. I will be going back for chemotherapy so it will help."
For other users, the tariff will change on Thursday, offering free parking for the first 20 minutes, compared to 40 currently, and the cost of parking for up to two hours will rise from £1.50 to £1.70. Two to four hours will cost £2.70 instead of £2.40, and over four hours will cost 30p more, at £3.30.
Charges will go up again by around 10 per cent the following year and by another 10 per cent the year after. Weekly tickets or monthly or three-monthy tickets will be available at concessionary rates.
Audrey Bradford, general manager for Macmillan Cancer Support in the East Midlands and Northern England, said: "We are delighted Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is allowing free car parking for cancer patients.
"Macmillan Cancer Support is campaigning on this issue across England – it's wrong that cancer patients should have to fork out for parking just so they can get to their life-saving treatment."
The new policy was agreed following consultation.
The trust's director of facilities and information, Nigel Myhill, said patients with long-term conditions would benefit.
He said: "It is the first review of car parking for two years and aims to provide a stable policy for the next three years. We will also continue to allow free parking for those droppingoff or picking up patients, if they do not need to park for a long period.
"And for those needing to use the facilities either for a week, or a month, a reduced price ticket can be purchased."
Hospital chiefs pointed to the crime-free figures for the past two years.
That is in contrast to the daily thefts of, and from, cars in hospital car parks before new security measures were introduced.
Mr Myhill said: "The package of measures is designed to be fair and sustainable – allowing the facilities to be managed in a secure way for users, yet still supplying some of the cheapest parking at hospitals in the region."
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| ALL ADDS UP: Lung cancer sufferer Dave Thompson |
Parents staying over night to be with poorly children will also have concessions on parking. But the free parking for some patients, including those with long term conditions such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes and heart failure, will be paid for by a general increase in parking charges as well as a reduction in the free parking period from 40 to 20 minutes.
Some patients and visitors claimed the new system was unfair, but most patients' groups welcomed the move and said it showed hospital chiefs were listening to their campaign. Lung cancer sufferer Dave Thompson, 71, of Larmour Road, Grimsby, said: "There are a lot of people being charged a lot to park. When you have to go several times a week, it all adds up."
The retired sheet-metal factory director said: "I have always paid and that has sometimes been a total of £12 a month. It is a good thing if it is going to be free. I will be going back for chemotherapy so it will help."
For other users, the tariff will change on Thursday, offering free parking for the first 20 minutes, compared to 40 currently, and the cost of parking for up to two hours will rise from £1.50 to £1.70. Two to four hours will cost £2.70 instead of £2.40, and over four hours will cost 30p more, at £3.30.
Charges will go up again by around 10 per cent the following year and by another 10 per cent the year after. Weekly tickets or monthly or three-monthy tickets will be available at concessionary rates.
Audrey Bradford, general manager for Macmillan Cancer Support in the East Midlands and Northern England, said: "We are delighted Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is allowing free car parking for cancer patients.
"Macmillan Cancer Support is campaigning on this issue across England – it's wrong that cancer patients should have to fork out for parking just so they can get to their life-saving treatment."
The new policy was agreed following consultation.
The trust's director of facilities and information, Nigel Myhill, said patients with long-term conditions would benefit.
He said: "It is the first review of car parking for two years and aims to provide a stable policy for the next three years. We will also continue to allow free parking for those droppingoff or picking up patients, if they do not need to park for a long period.
"And for those needing to use the facilities either for a week, or a month, a reduced price ticket can be purchased."
Hospital chiefs pointed to the crime-free figures for the past two years.
That is in contrast to the daily thefts of, and from, cars in hospital car parks before new security measures were introduced.
Mr Myhill said: "The package of measures is designed to be fair and sustainable – allowing the facilities to be managed in a secure way for users, yet still supplying some of the cheapest parking at hospitals in the region."
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