Views on hospital parking charges

I DO not in principle object to making a contribution to the provision and maintenance of

hospital parking facilities.

What does annoy me is the sophistry of the interim director of estates and facilities suggesting that the new scale of charges has been regularised to remove stress for visitors to hospitals by consistency, and suggesting that abuse was occurring because some hospital car parks were so cheap as to become alternatives for shoppers and those going on holiday.

I cannot believe anyone shopping in Cramlington or North Tyneside would have ventured to those hospitals to avoid higher parking costs. I would be interested to know which nearby shopping venues were charging for parking at greater cost than the respective hospitals.

As for the charging bands – new and old – I note the reluctance of the hospitals to allow ‘real time’ charging based on actual time at the hospital.

Why can’t charges be in time bands of say 10-minute intervals?

The machines currently calculate charges based upon entry time so not technically difficult. Visiting is for one hour so if you wish to maximise time with an in-patient friend or relative, you must necessarily incur the two-hour charge to cover time from arrival, walking to ward and later return to pay point. Charging in smaller intervals would of course minimise the revenue earned – or is that just me being cynical? ALAN FIDLER,

North Shields