Striking a balance on hospital parking

The unfairness of the parking arrangements at Ninewells Hospital has long been a bone of contention. A 30-year private contract, agreed by the former Labour/ LibDem administration at Holyrood, means people visiting the main hospital for NHS Tayside still have to pay to park, a decade after charges were scrapped for the rest of Scotland. The agreement still has a decade to run and SNP ministers insist the cost of ending it, along with two other outstanding contracts for Glasgow and Edinburgh royal infirmaries, makes a buy-out impossible.

However, a material change in the way NHS Tayside provides its services has thrown up what many will regard as a valid reason to re-examine the arrangements.

A shake-up of surgical services means the Dundee hospital will now be responsible for all emergency surgery, leaving Perth Royal Infirmary and Stracathro Hospital in Angus to focus on other cases.

An increase in urgent admissions from all parts of Tayside means more loved ones arriving at the Dundee hospital in a state of stress. Grabbing the money to pay for a parking ticket may well have been the last thing on their minds when they rushed out of the house and the likelihood of more people being slapped with fines seems high.

Whatever the politics, there is surely a case for all parties to at least re-examine the deal and see if there is any way for compassion to triumph over cost.