Backing for bid to scrap hospital parking charges

Sep 24 2009 by Gary Fanning, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON South MSP Tom McCabe has backed a Private Member’s Bill to prevent people having to pay for parking charges at NHS sites across Scotland.

Mr McCabe has given his full support to his Labour colleague Paul Martin’s proposed bill which would prohibit NHS Boards from charging patients, their visitors and NHS staff for parking at NHS sites.

Mr McCabe said the Scottish Government had made progress with this issue by announcing last September that they were issuing guidance to end car parking charges at 14 NHS hospitals across Scotland on December 31, 2008.

But the bill hopes to ensure that there is free parking at all NHS sites, and will place a responsibility on health boards to make sure that there is reasonable parking provision for staff, patients and visitors.

Mr McCabe said: “There are many people in Hamilton, Blantyre and Burnbank who have contacted me to add their support to the Bill - people who use the parking facilities at hospitals when they are being treated as a patient; visiting family or friends or a member of staff."

A NHS Lanarkshire spokesman said this week that they don’t charge for parking at any of their hospitals, health centres and their other buildings.