'A 'tax' on illness'? NHS car parking fees

Parking fees have been branded as a "tax on the sick." Macmillan, the cancer charity, are campaigning for NHS parking to be free or subsidised in England, as in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In August 2016 I invited people with cancer and their carers, via social media, to tell me their stories. They also agreed to be photographed

Joshua

Joshua's sister has Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and is in isolation in a hospital in the Midlands. He is visiting and has just given blood for stem cell testing.

“I think that on balance as health care is free then it’s not that bad to be charged. I think I’d rather pay car parking fees than have to pay the medical fees for cancer care which you would have to do in other countries. The question is who gets the money? Is it going to the hospital or a private company? 

Do I think that it is fair to charge? That is a different question, as I don’t think it is fair for some disadvantaged people to be paying.”

Maureen

Maureen had just completed surgery and chemotherapy for anal cancer. When I met her she was in pain and had to sit on a soft ring. 

“The whole treatment process has been traumatic for me. I found it difficult, particularly seeing so many people who want to do things to you – it's a shock. Not a lot of people know about anal cancer and I want people to know so that they can catch it early like mine (stage 2). I had been constipated at Christmas and then had a lot of pain going to the toilet at Easter. I then had two big bleeds, went to see my GP who said she could feel something, and that was it – I’ve been lucky catching it early. 

It’s not an even battle (cancer) and people don’t want to say what it costs. The good thing is that we (me and my husband) are in it together.

I have pain when I walk so parking near to the hospital is a must. I have a wheelchair and a disabled badge now which hopefully I won’t need for much longer. One time we had to stay late and did not have the change for the meter but went to the reception, they took the car details, they phoned parking attendant and we were let through; you can’t fault them there. We bought a parking pass which has been a big help and it expires in a few days time. We will then have to pay the ordinary fees.

In the last five and a half weeks we have been in hospital for 2-3 hours every day and spent 2-3 hours waiting for or having treatment. That adds up to about £100 in 5 and a half weeks which is a lot of money especially if you don’t have much.

Karen

We met a local supermarket cafe where she talked about her father who died of stomach cancer.

“Dad died two years ago from stomach cancer. It’s an awful, awful disease. They took away two-thirds of his stomach. He recovered really well and had a run until it relapsed a year later. He just couldn’t do the chemo and had to stop.

His uncle used to take him in his car the hospital as he was not happy with heavy traffic. His doctor’s surgery arranged a taxi for him and his girlfriend to hospital. He didn’t have much money either.

“We eventually got a blue badge for free parking and it arrived two days after he died. He did not want to fill in the forms.

Sue

Sue had cervical cancer and wanted to talk about her experiences of having the condition so that others would recognise the early symptoms. 

“I’d had lots of smears but then noticed just a few spots on my pants when I went to the toilet, just the three times, and I knew something was not right. In fact my tip to the ladies would be lighten up your pants so that you can see if something’s not right…

I had chemo, radiations and brachytherapy which is where they put you in a metal tube with metal tube with radiation inside you to treat the cancer. It was like being in a strait-jacket and it hurts your back – I was counting down the hours with the nurses so that they could take in off!

I would rather that they (the Hospital Trusts) spend money on hospital care than have to also pay for the parking. They don’t want to give up the parking charge and it depends on what the money that is saved is spent on; there is a lot of wastage in the health service…I realise that there are issues such as who owns the land or who it is leased to but they have to make money from parking.”

Stuart

Stuart wanted to give his views about paying for hospital parking.

“The fear when you go to hospital is that you are going to take two or three hours to get sorted and at £1.10 or £1.20 an hour it’s going to mount up to be very expensive…
We keep a money bag in the care of change so that we are prepared…
I remember you saying to me one day about hospital parking fees that “It’s a tax on being ill,” which I think it is.
It’s not just the money that you’re dealing with but the enormous trauma of cancer. I mean you have that and all you are thinking about when you go to the hospital is ‘Have a got a pound coin?’ It’s ludicrous. I can understand why people smash the machines out of sheer frustration.