Despite being warned by our MP and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt not to raise car parking charges, The RSCH and Frimley Park Hospital ignored him – and so have most other hospitals in England.
BUT
THE ROYAL SURREY NOW HAS THE DUBIOUS HONOUR OF HAVING THE MOST EXPENSIVE CAR PARKING IN THE COUNTRY.
WELL DONE RSCH! We hereby present the Waverley Web Award for Banking, yes we said… for banking … our dosh! The runner-up is Surrey County Council for charging us to park at Newlands Corner.
Boasting a minimum parking charge of £4 for up to two hours – which means visitors who stay for only an hour have to pay for two, is seen by SW Surrey Constituency MP Jeremy Hunt as excessive. He is not impressed and has demanded that people should be able to get to hospitals as ‘conveniently and as economically as possible.’ So why then hasn’t the RSCH reduced its charges, and why does it stubbornly refuse Department of Health advice?
Quite simply, because it can – because in an affluent area like Guildford it is assumed that it will not cause undue hardship, and that families visiting sick relatives, or seeking hospital appointments can stump up the cash. But there are numerous pockets of deprivation in the areas which the RSCH serves. It should also be recognised that many patients travel large distances from the rural areas, incurring substantial travelling expenses. We heard from one of our followers travelling from within the Waverley Borough that the cost of travelling to and from the hospital, for just one week, had cost over £50 – almost one-third of their weekly pension!
There are also 44 hospitals that charge disabled drivers to park, and this includes the RSCH and Frimley Park.
If Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland patients can park for nothing – why can’t we have our charges reduced, even if only slightly?
Wonder why it costs so much to Park at The Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford?
In Scotland and Wales free parking takes money from health expenditure, in Surrey the hospital car parks are so full it is often difficult to get a space at any price. In Abergavenny free hospital parking means that shoppers use the free hospital carpark making it difficult for patients and visitors to park at the hospital.
However Guildford like Surrey Local Authorities are trying to discourage shoppers with high parking charges and congestion. Perhaps Hospitals within towns and cities do need to charge a rate that deters those not on hospital business?
Agree, but the Royal Surrey and Frimley Park Hospitals are nowhere near the shopping areas. In fact, many patients park in Tesco’s nearby to take advantage of its free parking!
Hi Overtaxed! I agree it is a horrible fact of life that if you have other facilities near a hospital non-hospital people will use them. However – you would have thought that with technology nowadays there would be a means by which you could either enter a patient Number (the one you are visiting) or the Appointment Number so it recoginised the reason you were parking – I was there a couple of weeks ago – and did not know how long I was going to be in, I was lucky enough to have my OH to drive me there and pick me up so I didn’t need to worry about the parking – But otherwise I would have been in a right state . I know they have the Check-in/Out option but I have heard so many bad stories about that system screwing up I don’t trust it.
In the last few months I have spent rather more time than I would have liked there for appointments and I have to say there have been so many times when I have driven around for over 20mins trying to find a space and then find a parking machine that actually works – How they expect the elderly or infirm to schlep around the car park to find a machine in working order is beyond me
The system at the RSCH is a complete mess, and God help the disabled and the very old.
Thank you and agreed trying to finding a parking space before an appointment is very stressful. As a result it is necessary to arrive early, when Murphy’s law applies and the appointment is often delayed.
At one time there was a hospital Hopper but it was always booked months ahead yet for some reason ceased to operate.
Sometimes we here at the Waverley Web believe that patients are a bit of a nuisance.