hospital parking fees

mvl

So I am not as aware about the situation in the country - said I'd ask here.

This week I was in A&E in Portiuncula/Ballinasloe, and to my surprise there is now paid 24h APCOA parking - it appears not all HSE is aware of this, as their website has not been updated
https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/3/acutehospitals/hospitals/portiuncula/car-parking.html
Car parking is available at the Hospital. The current car parking charge is €2, and does not have a time restriction. All money raised goes directly back to patient and visitor services.

But note that the new APCOA rates are listed here https://www.apcoaconnect.ie/locationDetail/?id=1370

So this did not go well for me as a patient, tbh (I don't need an extra worry when I get in A&E / waiting time was 6 hours for me that nite, but I could have ended up being transferred to a different hospital).
So, I can understand the original fee, or how a time based fee can be applied to any service provider; but I fail to understand why they come up with these charges to A&E patients, this is not good enough IMO.

So my question is: have you seen similar in other hospitals in the country?
Does anyone know if there are any petitions to get this changed ?

elperello

It's a disgrace that they have their hand out to sick people and their relatives for money.

This petition is for cancer patients.

https://www.cancer.ie/advocacy/current-campaigns/park-the-charges

coathanger

Hubby was in A&E in Wexford & admitted for 10days, first 20mins was free, then upto 3hours was €4 , 1 pay machine for the whole hospital & it didn’t take notes,an added stress which wasn’t needed. Asked the nurses/doctors was the money going back into the hospital, they were unsure but didn’t think so ...

Fr_Dougal

The revenue goes straight to the hospital to provide services:

http://www.thejournal.ie/hospital-car-park-fees-ireland-3367778-May2017/

mvl

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

The revenue goes straight to the hospital to provide services:

http://www.thejournal.ie/hospital-car-park-fees-ireland-3367778-May2017/

In this case it sounds like the parking service is outsourced to a private company for some reason.

The machines only accept change, and the change distributor from the hospital was broken. - Was not sure if was safe to pay online; when asking staff, nobody knew anything about online.

LaLa2004

Parking in Crumlin Children's Hospital is payable by the hour.

That's if you're lucky enough to get into the car park. Otherwise you park on the narrow streets in the area & walk.

elperello

I had to take an Out-Patient to Barrington's Private Hospital in Limerick last year.
They give out free tickets at reception to a multi-storey car park nearby that they have an arrangement with.

So a private hospital can afford to give free parking but public hospitals make sick people pay.

PirateShampoo

LaLa2004 wrote: »

Parking in Crumlin Children's Hospital is payable by the hour.

That's if you're lucky enough to get into the car park. Otherwise you park on the narrow streets in the area & walk.

That needs to be fixed it's a complete nightmare for buses and trucks going about thier daily business around there.

beauf

They are all a nightmare for parking.

Blanch has a coin based system. Perfect when you arrive and theres no change anywhere and the machine for change are broken.

Its the perfect example of why the soul of this country is broken. By greed.

Atlantic Dawn

Something has to keep the basket case HSE running.

KevinCavan

Have consultants gotten a slice of the parking fees in the past?

elperello

At every hospital you will see a section of the car park usually near the building populated with Audis, BMW, Mercs etc. That is the consultants car park and they don't pay.

An awful lot of people, most obviously in Dublin with all its buses and the like, who drive to hospitals could get public transport instead. But then they'd have nothing to be giving out about.

I parked for free on one of the side streets in Crumlin, in Tesco Merrion in Vincent's and so on. The hospitals need the money, and will continue to need it until a government decides to do an Éamonn Rothwell/Irish Ferries on the HSE and get rid of c. 60,000 unnecessary jobs.

LaLa2004

[Deleted User] wrote: »

An awful lot of people, most obviously in Dublin with all its buses and the like, who drive to hospitals could get public transport instead. But then they'd have nothing to be giving out about.

Getting 2 buses to Crumlin with a child doesn't work for me. Especially when trying to get into work after appointments.

elperello

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/tax-on-sick-1m-a-month-collected-in-parking-charges-at-public-hospitals-36694545.html

The parking fees raise €13 million per year.

The HSE total budget for 2018 is €14.5 billion. (I know that is not just for hospitals).

For a a tiny fraction of their spending they are putting sick people and their visitors through all that stress and expense that many can't afford.

Chiparus

KevinCavan wrote: »

Have consultants gotten a slice of the parking fees in the past?

I dont think so, there were rumours that consultants used private money to pay to build a multi-storey car park in a hospital.

But so what, its their money thay can do what they want with it.

up for anything

elperello wrote: »

At every hospital you will see a section of the car park usually near the building populated with Audis, BMW, Mercs etc. That is the consultants car park and they don't pay.

Consultants come and go between hospitals and their private consulting rooms and if they had to drive around looking for parking space it would be a very poor use of their time. I'm very grateful that the consultant orthopaedic surgeon who was called in at 2am to operate on my son, who had Compartment Syndrome, didn't have to piss around looking for a parking space and then walk from the car park to the building because time really was of the essence for my son to be operated on to prevent major damage to or loss of his arm.

On the other hand, my mother (80 years old at the time) a few years back had a scheduled appointment in an outpatients clinic in Waterford Regional Hospital. The car park there isn't run by the HSE or hospital. It's a private concern. Anyhow when she went to pay her car park ticket of €4 she realised she'd left home without her purse and mobile. She also by then realised that she was coming down with some lurgy and running a temperature and feeling pretty shook. All she wanted to do was get home and onto the couch with a Lemsip. She pressed the call button on the ticket machine and told the guy who answered her story and said she'd pay it the next day if he could let her out. He told her no way and that she'd have to find the €4 before she could get out of the car park. She said that she had no way to get it. At the time she lived out in the country about 17 miles away. The chap was pretty rude and told her that if he was to fall for every sob story no one would ever pay their parking fees and 'hung up'.

She sat in the reception area nearly crying and then asked a friendly looking lady could she borrow her phone. She phoned her sister, equally elderly, who lived about 25 miles away. She had to drive in, give my Mum the car park money and then drive home again while my mother drove herself home. For four fucking euro! Because little old ladies are constantly skipping out on paying their four euro? I was in there a week later and bearded one of the hospital admin on the subject and read them the riot act. I was promised that they'd talk to the car park firm and make sure that no one was ever treated like that again. i have my doubts.

Mrs OBumble

elperello wrote: »

I had to take an Out-Patient to Barrington's Private Hospital in Limerick last year.
They give out free tickets at reception to a multi-storey car park nearby that they have an arrangement with.

So a private hospital can afford to give free parking but public hospitals make sick people pay.

Cost of parking is built into the fee you pay the private hospital for treatment.

Hospitals are there to treat sick people, not to store their vehicles for free.

If hospital car parks were free they'd be full of the cars of workers from surrounding businesses.

Guy:Incognito

LaLa2004 wrote: »

Getting 2 buses to Crumlin with a child doesn't work for me. Especially when trying to get into work after appointments.

If it was free it'd be full of people using it as a park and ride for work anyway so thered be even less space for people actually using the hospital. People are ***** and only out for themselves. The fact it's a hospital car park wouldn't bother them in the slightest.

mvl

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Cost of parking is built into the fee you pay the private hospital for treatment.

Hospitals are there to treat sick people, not to store their vehicles for free.

If hospital car parks were free they'd be full of the cars of workers from surrounding businesses.

While I agree that fees need to be paid, this particular parking service has been outsourced to a 3rd party (APCOA) , it is not maintained by the hospital anymore. Same company has in same town another parking where they charge 3.5 EUR/day, while the hospital parking day is 8 EUR/day.
Sounds to me the hospital parking is premium location for them to get more money from sick people.
= smaller towns around Ballinasloe also have APCOA fees of 3.5 EUR/day.

But that evening, issue was that I had no where to get the coins to pay for an outdated coin based only payment system, after the first 4 hours. Its worse cause the waiting times in A&E are outside of patients control, and the parking needs to be validated while in the waiting room; its not like I'd go to a shopping centre, get the parking ticket and pay on exit with coins/notes or card.

up for anything - your mum story is so sad; it doesn't sound like it is happening in Ireland

ted1

mvl wrote: »

While I agree that fees need to be paid, this particular parking service has been outsourced to a 3rd party (APCOA) , it is not maintained by the hospital anymore. Same company has in same town another parking where they charge 3.5 EUR/day, while the hospital parking day is 8 EUR/day.
Sounds to me the hospital parking is premium location for them to get more money from sick people.
= smaller towns around Ballinasloe also have APCOA fees of 3.5 EUR/day.

But that evening, issue was that I had no where to get the coins to pay for an outdated coin based only payment system, after the first 4 hours. Its worse cause the waiting times in A&E are outside of patients control, and the parking needs to be validated while in the waiting room; its not like I'd go to a shopping centre, get the parking ticket and pay on exit with coins/notes or card.

up for anything - your mum story is so sad; it doesn't sound like it is happening in Ireland

Should sick people be driving to the hospital ? If someone can drive there it’s Hardly an emergency

questionmark?

up for anything wrote: »

Consultants come and go between hospitals and their private consulting rooms and if they had to drive around looking for parking space it would be a very poor use of their time. I'm very grateful that the consultant orthopaedic surgeon who was called in at 2am to operate on my son, who had Compartment Syndrome, didn't have to piss around looking for a parking space and then walk from the car park to the building because time really was of the essence for my son to be operated on to prevent major damage to or loss of his arm.

On the other hand, my mother (80 years old at the time) a few years back had a scheduled appointment in an outpatients clinic in Waterford Regional Hospital. The car park there isn't run by the HSE or hospital. It's a private concern. Anyhow when she went to pay her car park ticket of €4 she realised she'd left home without her purse and mobile. She also by then realised that she was coming down with some lurgy and running a temperature and feeling pretty shook. All she wanted to do was get home and onto the couch with a Lemsip. She pressed the call button on the ticket machine and told the guy who answered her story and said she'd pay it the next day if he could let her out. He told her no way and that she'd have to find the €4 before she could get out of the car park. She said that she had no way to get it. At the time she lived out in the country about 17 miles away. The chap was pretty rude and told her that if he was to fall for every sob story no one would ever pay their parking fees and 'hung up'.

She sat in the reception area nearly crying and then asked a friendly looking lady could she borrow her phone. She phoned her sister, equally elderly, who lived about 25 miles away. She had to drive in, give my Mum the car park money and then drive home again while my mother drove herself home. For four fucking euro! Because little old ladies are constantly skipping out on paying their four euro? I was in there a week later and bearded one of the hospital admin on the subject and read them the riot act. I was promised that they'd talk to the car park firm and make sure that no one was ever treated like that again. i have my doubts.

So you read the riot act to a member of the administration staff in the hospital who has zero say and zero influence over the car parking charges. Sure aren't you a great! So brave and tough of you!

mvl

ted1 wrote: »

Should sick people be driving to the hospital ? If someone can drive there it’s Hardly an emergency

and you are a qualified doctor to state that ?

I was accepted as emergency as sent by my GP, and there was no one else to drive me to the hospital. buseireann is useless at night time.

Rubberchikken

Hospitals like cuh in cork should have a multi story car park.
Ridiculous price to.park there thats if you can find a space.

beauf

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Cost of parking is built into the fee you pay the private hospital for treatment.

Hospitals are there to treat sick people, not to store their vehicles for free.

If hospital car parks were free they'd be full of the cars of workers from surrounding businesses.

Car parks are full and are all the surrounding areas are full, all the time. Even when there are no surrounding businesses like Blanch.

The mater on Match days is full. If you need to visit someone in the hospital do it after the match is over. The old car park sits empty, mocking you as drive around and around.

Temple street has no parking. problems with every hospitals parking. James already has problems even before they've built the new hospital.



None of this is done to facilitate sick people.

beauf

ted1 wrote: »

Should sick people be driving to the hospital ? If someone can drive there it’s Hardly an emergency

Lots of people have valid reason to be at the hospital and not be an emergency?

Public transport is not reason for abysmal parking at hospitals and expensive parking.

beauf

Deleted User wrote: »

An awful lot of people, most obviously in Dublin with all its buses and the like, who drive to hospitals could get public transport instead. But then they'd have nothing to be giving out about. ...

Yes I could make a 3hr round trip instead of driving and taking 1hr.

Makes perfect sense.

Mrs OBumble

mvl wrote: »

and you are a qualified doctor to state that ?

I was accepted as emergency as sent by my GP, and there was no one else to drive me to the hospital. buseireann is useless at night time.

Last time I was sick enough to be sent to A&E by my GP, I caught a taxi. Because I was sick enough not be be safe on the road. And would have been even less capable of driving after the surgery. Even if I was capable of driving home, it would have been incredibly self of me to have my car occupy a hospital car-parking space for the three days I was in there.

I have some sympathy for immediate families of in-patients in emergency intensive-care situations - reckon it would be reasonable for them to be given free parking tickets from the ward. That's all.


As for outsourcing: that's what hospitals do. They let a tender for companies to do all the non- healthcare buts of running a hospital, like catering, cleaning, laundry, parking. Sometimes the company that wins the tender is able to make a profit and only gives a % of the takings to the hospital. Other times they hand over all the parking fees, and the hospital pays them a set fee for doing the job.

beauf

I don't think its possible to reply to such daft examples.

G-Man

Oh woe is me, they built a 100 million hospital, they treated me for a week with top class surgeons, caring nurses hi tech medicine and thousands of euros of drugs...and now the shower want 4eur for looking after my car.. Well I'm never going back there.

end of the road

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Last time I was sick enough to be sent to A&E by my GP, I caught a taxi. Because I was sick enough not be be safe on the road. And would have been even less capable of driving after the surgery. Even if I was capable of driving home, it would have been incredibly self of me to have my car occupy a hospital car-parking space for the three days I was in there.

sure, but your situation is your situation and won't necessarily apply to the poster who you replied to.

beauf

G-Man wrote: »

Oh woe is me, they built a 100 million hospital, they treated me for a week with top class surgeons, caring nurses hi tech medicine and thousands of euros of drugs...and now the shower want 4eur for looking after my car.. Well I'm never going back there.

4 eur? Maybe in the 80's.

beauf

beauf wrote: »

Yes I could make a 3hr round trip instead of driving and taking 1hr.

Makes perfect sense.

Great. So then for you your choice evidently makes 'perfect sense' to be paying the parking. So don't be giving out about paying it when you, and you alone, made your choice. This really shouldn't be complicated.

BohsCeltic

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Great. So then for you your choice evidently makes 'perfect sense' to be paying the parking. So don't be giving out about paying it when you, and you alone, made your choice. This really shouldn't be complicated.

He made a choice to get to the hospital quicker. A good choice.
I done the same when I had to go to A&E.
Waiting to be seen to then worrying about going back out to put money in the machine so I wouldn't be clamped.

This country has gone to the dogs.

nim1bdeh38l2cw

elperello wrote: »

At every hospital you will see a section of the car park usually near the building populated with Audis, BMW, Mercs etc. That is the consultants car park and they don't pay.

What's your point?

Baron Kurtz

coathanger wrote: »

Hubby was in A&E in Wexford & admitted for 10days, first 20mins was free, then upto 3hours was €4 , 1 pay machine for the whole hospital & it didn’t take notes,an added stress which wasn’t needed. Asked the nurses/doctors was the money going back into the hospital, they were unsure but didn’t think so ...

Hubby

Victor

mvl wrote: »

While I agree that fees need to be paid, this particular parking service has been outsourced to a 3rd party (APCOA) , it is not maintained by the hospital anymore. Same company has in same town another parking where they charge 3.5 EUR/day, while the hospital parking day is 8 EUR/day.
Sounds to me the hospital parking is premium location for them to get more money from sick people.
= smaller towns around Ballinasloe also have APCOA fees of 3.5 EUR/day.(

I imagine it is the hospital setting the fees, not the parking manager.

Chiparus

elperello wrote: »

At every hospital you will see a section of the car park usually near the building populated with Audis, BMW, Mercs etc. That is the consultants car park and they don't pay.

Do you begrudge this?

McCrack

LaLa2004 wrote: »

Getting 2 buses to Crumlin with a child doesn't work for me. Especially when trying to get into work after appointments.

Well make it work or drive your car to the hospital and use their limited parking space and pay for the privilege

ted1

mvl wrote: »

and you are a qualified doctor to state that ?

I was accepted as emergency as sent by my GP, and there was no one else to drive me to the hospital. buseireann is useless at night time.

Taxi?

DoozerT6

questionmark? wrote: »

So you read the riot act to a member of the administration staff in the hospital who has zero say and zero influence over the car parking charges. Sure aren't you a great! So brave and tough of you!

Exactly! What on earth did you expect some random member of the admin staff to actually do for you??? Oh, but at least you felt better after getting that off your chest. No concern for the poor sod who had absolutely nothing to do with your rant and was probably left shaking after some rando comes up to them and verbally abused them over something they have NO CONTROL OVER!

PSA: if something is bothering you, ask to speak to the relevant manager. DO NOT just go off on an unconnected member of front-line staff who is just trying to do their job.

D3V!L

The roads around Crumlin Children's hospital are sometimes impassable due to the huge amount of illegally parked cars blocking both sides of the roads.

The Gardai regularly ticket and the clampers clamp and it makes no difference.

The hospital are well aware of the parking problems around there and have an empty parking lot at the front of the building which is reserved for the consultants. There's also another vancant lot at the back.

LaLa2004

McCrack wrote: »

Well make it work or drive your car to the hospital and use their limited parking space and pay for the privilege

I have to drive. I have to pay for parking. It is expensive. I can afford to pay for it.

I cannot get a space at the hospital and end up parking on the narrow side streets in the area. There is no charge for this, but a huge inconvenience to the local community.

I hope you never get to spend 3 weeks in Crumlin with a sick child. Parents do find a way to "make it work".

When they were debating the site for the new children's hospital, parking for parents, medical & ancillary staff was discussed. One of the consultants spoke about passing nurses parked up an hour before their shift started, sleeping in their cars in order to get a space.

beauf

We had public transport dragging the whole debate on the national children's hospital to public transport being more important than car parking. To justify a site with very limited parking. Then it turns out only a tiny proportional of people access hospitals by public transport.

It's probably one of the places that will never have a lot of people use public transport. Due to the hours people work, that a lot of sick and elderly use it.

Fees for a day's parking are 10-20 a day. Though if you know in advance you can pay a week rate. Assuming you have 20 in coins or can pay using a smartphone etc.

The fees are bad enough. Especially if your are there a lot. But it's the inconvenience of it. Because the fines are massive of you get it wrong.

My local train station a fine for one mistake is 50% the annual fee. So I pay the annual fee. Now I'm paying for it anyway, I drive when I used to walk and cycle.

Same with hospital if it's cheaper to pay for the week then I do so. Which also means I'm more likely to use the car for every trip.

So as a means of reducing car use. Its absurd.

Hospitals are not the place to force people out of their cars. Through parking charges. Even if that was the aim, which it isn't. Its just to make money. While creating huge hassle and stress on people. Usually sick and stressed people.

Ireland of the thousands welcomes is long gone. Its new motto is Greed is good.

Turtyturd

You could lower the fee to a nominal charge and you would still get people who would rather block up the surrounding streets than pay it. Live beside Beaumont and from first thing in the morning there are cars belonging to both staff and patients parked blocking driveways, on corners and pretty much anywhere on the street.

Council should introduce paid on street parking although it would probably just push the problem down the road.

mvl

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Last time I was sick enough to be sent to A&E by my GP, I caught a taxi. Because I was sick enough not be be safe on the road. And would have been even less capable of driving after the surgery. Even if I was capable of driving home, it would have been incredibly self of me to have my car occupy a hospital car-parking space for the three days I was in there.

I have some sympathy for immediate families of in-patients in emergency intensive-care situations - reckon it would be reasonable for them to be given free parking tickets from the ward. That's all.


As for outsourcing: that's what hospitals do. They let a tender for companies to do all the non- healthcare buts of running a hospital, like catering, cleaning, laundry, parking. Sometimes the company that wins the tender is able to make a profit and only gives a % of the takings to the hospital. Other times they hand over all the parking fees, and the hospital pays them a set fee for doing the job.

- except that I don't take taxis at night to go to different town: I was in condition to drive (and yes, it was investigated by A&E). if I were to remain in hospital, I would have made arrangements to get the car brought home.

But this thread is not about my emergency. This is about hospital parking arrangements.

In my view, this private company have introduced a coin based system that is not suitable for stays longer than 2 hours (and A&E is an example where time of stay is uncertain).
- It would be less hassle for all if the payment is done on exit, and notes or card are acceptable as payment.
- And yes, it should be possible for the hospital staff to validate parking tickets for ppl that need it. Should be one of their questions, when they ask if you are on medical card.

But it sounded that this hospital's reception staff had no connection with the parking provider at all.

Sad that someone is making money out of this.

Victor

mvl wrote: »

Sad that someone is making money out of this.

But pretty much everyone working in a hospital makes money.

McCrack

LaLa2004 wrote: »

I have to drive. I have to pay for parking. It is expensive. I can afford to pay for it.

I cannot get a space at the hospital and end up parking on the narrow side streets in the area. There is no charge for this, but a huge inconvenience to the local community.

I hope you never get to spend 3 weeks in Crumlin with a sick child. Parents do find a way to "make it work".

When they were debating the site for the new children's hospital, parking for parents, medical & ancillary staff was discussed. One of the consultants spoke about passing nurses parked up an hour before their shift started, sleeping in their cars in order to get a space.

You "have to drive", acknowledge parking is difficult and expensive at hospitals and you can afford it.

What are you cribbing about so?

pickarooney

[Deleted User] wrote: »

An awful lot of people, most obviously in Dublin with all its buses and the like, who drive to hospitals could get public transport instead. But then they'd have nothing to be giving out about.

I parked for free on one of the side streets in Crumlin, in Tesco Merrion in Vincent's and so on. The hospitals need the money, and will continue to need it until a government decides to do an Éamonn Rothwell/Irish Ferries on the HSE and get rid of c. 60,000 unnecessary jobs.

Those jobs are paid by the government and if they were laid off they'd still be paid by the government, just less and with lower spending power. What's going to be the net outcome?

Mrs OBumble

mvl wrote: »

-

Sad that someone is making money out of this.

Unlike the doctor and nurses you saw, who were working for free.

mvl

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Unlike the doctor and nurses you saw, who were working for free.

Victor wrote: »

But pretty much everyone working in a hospital makes money.

oh dear - that AH flavoring again.