Cut in hospital parking charges

Patients at the Royal Oldham Hospital could soon be paying less on car-parking charges.

Plans are in place to reduce the price of a parking ticket throughout the Pennine Acute Trust, which runs hospitals in Oldham, Rochdale, North Manchester and Bury.

No details or timeframe have been released so far but a Trust spokesman confirmed the plans.

He said: “The Trust does not currently have any policy documentation relating to concessions for long-term patients or visitors.

“However, a standard reduced-price parking ticket and policy for introduction across the Trust sites is currently being developed.”

Figures for last year (2008-09) showed £919,689 was paid out by visitors and a further £759,823 by members of staff — a combined £1.67million across the four trust sites.

The figures were 14.1 per cent up on the previous year’s total of £1.47 million.

Current charges for parking are £1.70 for up to four hours, £3.50 for four-10 hours, and £5 for up to 24 hours. Regular visitors can pay £9 for a seven-day ticket.

The spokesman added: “Some parking-charge reductions are available across all of our sites for patients or visitors attending for more than seven days, usually on application to the relevant site Facilities Department, where longer-term permits, valid for up to one month, can be obtained.”

The Trust’s new vehicle parking policy also allows for up to 15 minutes free parking for drop-offs.

Both Scotland and Wales have banned the charges, while Northern Ireland has axed fees for all cancer patients.

The trust spokesman said: “The income received from car-parking charges covers the costs of security, maintenance of the car parks and related equipment, the administration of the scheme and site overheads, such as the site rates attributable to the car parks.

“Any profits made are used to support patient care within the Trust.

“This profit contributes to the total sum of funds available to be allocated to patient care.

“Patients and visitors who attend hospital on a frequent basis may be entitled to discounts on parking charges.”