Free hospital parking for long-term patients

FREE car parking for patients with long-term conditions like cancer is being introduced this week to three hospitals in the region.

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is dropping charges for those who have to attend hospital more than eight times in a 30-day period or have to spend a night in hospital with a sick child.

The changes, which will affect car parks at Grimsby, Scunthorpe and Goole hospitals, start on Thursday.

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Audrey Bradford, General Manager for Macmillan Cancer Support in the East Midlands and Northern England welcomed the move.

She said: “We are delighted Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is allowing free car parking for cancer patients.

“Macmillan Cancer Support is campaigning on this issue across England – it’s wrong that cancer patients should have to fork out for parking just so they can get to their life saving treatment.”

Other visitors, however, now face paying a charge if they stay over 20 minutes.

Currently the first 40 minutes is free.

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The new charging regime will see visitors paying £1.70 for the first two hours (up 20p) and £2.70 (up 30p) for between two and four hours.

Cars will no longer be clamped. Instead Civil Parking Notices will be issued costing £70, or £35 if paid within two weeks.

Director of facilities and information Nigel Myhill said: “The range of measures we are proposing in the new policy are aimed at ensuring the trust contributes towards targets to reducing carbon emissions, while ensuring those who need access to our hospitals get it.

“The new policy will also allow the trust to offer free parking to patients who have been diagnosed with cancer or patients who have long term conditions such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and heart failure.”