Is It Time for England to Make It Free to Park in NHS Hospital Car Parks? 

I'd be ok with paying for parking at hospitals if the money went to the NHS but the car parks are owned by Parking Eye, which is a private company and it's disgusting.

Thing that sickens me is staff having to pay. If i ever had to pay to go to park at my workplace i would resign instantly.

This idea that the car park couldn't be maintained in one of the richest countries in the world is ridiculous

Of course hospital parking should be free. We pay enough into the system 😔. No compassion whatsoever

It should be free. The black doctor won the argument. The other guy kept interrupting and doesn't make any sense.

I had an MRI a few years ago, Car Park is owned by OCS Group Limited, nothing to do with the NHS - Private Company. Because you don't know how much you have to stay for, I paid flipping £15 literally just profiting off people having to go to Hospital. This country is an absolute joke ngl. Also charging the staff who get paid pennies to the pound...

I'd be happy to pay if it actually went towards the NHS and they didn't gouge money out of staff

What an obnoxious individual that lawyer is.

Beautiful smiles from both guests 😊😊

My daughters minor op was delayed 3 days running. No only was she waiting 8 hours each day and then sent home, I had to pay £30 parking (6 x£5) to drop her off and collect her over the 3 days.

Should be free for nurses, why should they have to pay to go to work!!

it's a lie about free parking for blue badge holders, the disabled spots are extremely limited, it's rare to get a space

90% of my local hospital is staff parking. Maybe the NHS should be doing more to encourage their own staff to leave their cars at home? Staff park and ride from the local train and bus stations?

What is the biggest deterrent in main city centres leading to reduced footfall- excessive car parking fees or no parking signs.

Get public transport? That is not appropriate for everyone. So what the guys Dad got the bus to get to his cancer treatment (not a great idea) 1 hour both ways. It's greed causing this. A private company is making easy money and they don't want it to stop.

Fees they charge are exorbitant, it’s profit.

The tickets is always upheld. Especially Queen Elizabeth hospital horrible. They make so much money

No Sympathy for the A&E doctor. Should follow the rules and leave extra early if you know that finding a space is a problem. He seems to be more keen for it to be free for staff, less for patients

Everyone wants free things and want others to pay for it as well

Why don’t all funds of parking go to the hospital and car park maintenance, it’s because they are privately owned. Much like council regulated car parks have been sold off too and train services sold off. If you keep the payment it should be paid to the NHS but the government don’t want to employ ticket wardens or staff to deal with disputes

Clinics are late, worried about appointment, then worried if ticket will run out before you get seen.

Unfortunately there’s got to be a charge because if it was free some people would just use it for free parking regardless of whether they were using the hospital or not.

They should definitely be free, if you need to go in for a day procedure or wait in A& E, you may be restricted from doing this as all day parking is a fortune and often you don't know how long you're going to be.....

Why not switch to a PAYG system? Like a lot of car parks operate under? No one ever complains about them....

i dont have a phone no wifi in hospitals

Yes it should be free if you visit a sick or dying loved one tome with them is important and most cases the last chance

The shark first says the car parks need to be maintained and then says take public transportat is greener. God what a numb nut

Clearly he is in a privileged position to be able to afford to pay excessive parking charges!

Doctor Vs HellSpawn.

Paul is a very apathetic person. This did him no favours.

Car park can't be free for all because people will take advantage and will leave the cars there for ages and even go on holiday! Staff should have discount prices but not free for the same reasons . Hospitals should have some free bays like in my country where people can drop off or pick up only to help those in emergency situations.

Parking was free in Hospitals for decades, it should remain so. Private companies making money out of people who don't want to be there in the first place or work there! Disgraceful!!!!

I'm NHS staff, a GP I actually don't think it should be free because then people would abuse it. We have such a parking crisis in this country and people would start parking up to go to some other place when we need that space for patients. It should definately be cheaper though.

Yes, I think it should be. People already pay taxes. Not to mention, they are often visiting the hospital to deal with someone or their own medical care. Visiting the hospital can be really stressful and/or urgent, imagine having to deal with the unnecessary stress of parking tickets on top of that. Also, the collected parking fees, to my knowledge, go towards private companies rather than to improve the healthcare system and I find this disgusting and greedy. On another note, that man who suggested for people to use public transportation instead of driving to the hospital does not realize that sometimes people need to rush to the hospital! They're not going to on a stroll, c'mon. Also, medical situations are fluid and can take unexpected turns. During those times, I guarantee people are not thinking about their parking tickets. Not to mention people may already be struggling financially. Why put extra financial strain on low-income seniors, single parents, low income families. Surely there can be a more compassionate and reasonable way. If Wales and Scotland can do this free of charge, why not the rest of us?

That bloke in the suit is just living in cloud cuckoo land. He is obviously a London resident taking about public transport. Unless you live in London a big city public transport in this country is a joke

Excuses excuses 😴 they can make it free

Lol. Nigerian background Doctor speaks clearer English than all of them!

a lot of the car parks have been privatised for profit which targets the most ill and vulnerable

If the money goes towards NHS funding then i don't have a problem with it.

ITV please close the comments section if you are going to continue to delete comments, Debate in a reasonable fashion is healthy but to delete a persons comment when another person asks a question and is given a reasonable response is unconscionable

The hospitals break the ticket machines on purpose so you can’t pay and they can fine you. I went to Northampton General 3 times this year about a BCG on my face. Every time the ticket machine was out of order. On my final visit I held a few buttons on the machine. Eventually a £1 fell out and the machine started working again. So I walked round after my surgery and fixed them all by holding buttons. This means the hospital has sabotaged all of them as I fixed them and made £1 everytime. £12 I made and saved 100’s of people in Northampton from fines. ITS A SCAM!!!!! Try holding buttons on the machines. It will work.

You can tell Paul is a smelly Tory

All car parking in hospital should be scrapped

ok so so die from a stab wound on a bus or train/tube ? that guy is daft

I don’t pay the car parking ticket it cost more for them to take you to court