Don’t be selfish by abusing free hospital parking

As mentioned in my blog here last month, BMA Cymru Wales fully supported the Welsh Assembly Government’s decision on scrapping hospital parking charges, something we felt for some time was merely a tax on the sick.

So I was very dismayed and concerned to read about how a minority of people are abusing the system. It seems some of us are parking in hospital grounds to go shopping for instance, instead of using an NCP, where you would have to pay. This of course is not what free hospital parking was intended for, to help those who’re ill and needing treatment.

The fact that hospitals feel the need to introduce fines means this abuse of the system is becoming more and more widespread. And is a sad indictment of the society we now live in, when those who GENUINELY need to park within hospital grounds can’t do so because of a selfish few. We need to make sure patients and relatives of those who are sick are the ones that actually gain from this, not someone going for a browse around the sales. Although the policing of hospital parking is necessary, surely it’s far better we weed out those who abuse the system, rather than penalising everyone and in particular, those people who can ill afford it?