Shrewsbury MP welcomes hospital parking charges response
Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham has welcomed a response in relation to hospital car parking charges from Dr Dan Poulter, the Minister responsible for policy relating to NHS estates.
Mr Kawczynski had previously suggested that visitors to relatives that are in hospital for more than five days should not have to pay car parking fees; and in response to that suggestion Dr Poulter has confirmed that the Government fully supports the principle of concessions for patients who require frequent or long term access to hospitals.
Daniel Kawczynski commented: “I recognise that to scrap parking fees altogether would remove over £100million from frontline healthcare which, in the current economic environment, is not a viable option. However I was pleased to hear that it may be possible to negotiate a better deal for those that are frequent visitors to hospital.
I now intend to work with the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust Board to ensure that their local car parking charging policy is fair and patient-centred and one that has the support of the local community.”
Peter Herring, Chief Executive of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said:
“I am committed to offering our patients and visitors the best deal on travel and transport. For this reason I have made a commitment to introduce improved car parking concessions and make sure that these are more widely publicised.
“Firstly, many patients on low income are eligible for a reimbursement of their travel costs. Secondly, I will be extending free parking to include more patients on long term treatment plans. Thirdly, I will be improving the cap on charges for regular visitors so that they will pay no more than £8 for 10 visits.
“I welcome your feedback on hospital travel and transport, which can be made direct to the Trust or via your Local Involvement Network.”
