indeed even a fine. Sadly, I knowfrommy own experi-


ence that such occasions can be dealt with sensitively and sympathetically. However, the problem was that some hospitals just simply failed to under- stand and deal with these issues ade- quately, leaving sick and distressed peo- ple with large parking bills at a time when they were most vulnerable. The level of basic stupidity involved in some of these incidents is justmind-blowing. One hospital operated a simple


system where, if a patient were delayed unreasonably in their treat- ment, the clinic manager would sim- ply sign out their parking ticket and they didn’t pay extra parking.The hos- pital replaced a “pay the man” system with a pay-on-foot system and removed this capability. Unfortunate- ly, for sixmonths after the parking sys- temchanged, the hospital continued to send out appointment letters saying the concession was still available. The problem was resolved only when reception staff faced with managerial indifference and patient abuse started to give the disgruntled drivers the CEO’s direct phone line. Anyway, the parking issue is still


unresolved in England, and a recent government consultation has done lit- tle to address it. Therefore, working directly with the NHS Confederation, the NHS’s trade association, the British ParkingAssociation (BPA) has prepared and published a “Hospital Parking Charter.” The purpose of the charter is to encourage health service providers and their car park operators to sign up to a self-regulating scheme that will allow charging within a regime that recognizes the special sit- uation faced in a hospital environment. The charter can be downloaded


from the BPA website at www.british- parking.co.uk/files/Documents/hospi- tal%20parking%20charter.pdf. The key objectives of the charter are to: • Improve the standards of car park management and customer service.


• Provide clear signage and well- maintained car parks.


• Provide reasonable parking tariffs. • Take best practice advice from organisations such as the BPA and NHS Confederation.


• Advertise concessions, such as those available to chronically ill patients.


• Ensure appropriate levels of dis- ability provision.


JUNE 2010 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com 19


www.GMGSYS.com 888-464-7978


• Take a flexible approach to cases where unforeseeable circumstances have led to parking contraventions.


• Ensure enforcement is appropriate. • Encourage all car park operators to join the scheme. Inmy opinion, the scheme’s heart is


in the right place, but even in the state- ment of its key objectives, the dead hand of bureaucracy can be seen.What about “apply a pinch of humanity and an ounce of common sense”? This pretty


much covers what is said above. I cannot help but wonder if a man-


ager like the guy above who took out a concession and then took six months to realize what he had done will actually be capable of coming to grips with this. I fear he won’t.


Peter Guest is PT’s correspondent on all things European and Middle East. He can be reached at peterguestparking@hotmail.co.uk.


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