Hospital parking relief welcome

BRAVO to the Minister of Health Cameron Dick for taking the initiative and finally providing some relief for patients and their carers required to park at our hospitals.

We know that many patients will not complete, or is some cases even commence, recommended treatments for a range of reasons.

Particularly so when the treatment is complex or may continue over weeks, months and years like treatment for various cancers.

In addition, we know that the diagnosis of a serious or life threatening disease is a major life stress and that psycho-social, financial and practical issues may accumulate and compound to the point of serious disadvantage to the patient, their families and those who care about them.

❝community What we must do as a is remove the barriers to patients accessing and then completing, prescribed treatments.

What we must do as a community is remove the barriers to patients accessing and then completing, prescribed treatments.

One of the key barriers is financial concern and yes, mundane as it might seem, critical here is the cost of parking. Patients have told us this for some time.

What good is having a world-class health system if its full benefit is denied to patients for reasons such as the cost of parking?

Minister - a terrific start and on behalf of us all, please do maintain the momentum.

And to those responsible at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, what a tragedy for us all if the experience of caring for a sick child in the modern state of Queensland is defined by the inability of parents to be by the side of their child because of the cost of parking, rather than by the outstanding quality of the treatment delivered by our health professionals.

Surely they have enough to worry about already.