A few months ago I was chatting to an elderly resident in my ward who explained that she was supposed to go to our local hospital, Watford General (part of West Herts Hospital NHS Trust) a couple of times a week for treatment but had refused to go. When I enquired as to why not, I was half expecting her to say something along the lines of quality of care, distance to travel or even concern about hospital borne diseases but her response was: “because I can’t afford it…” I was about to launch in to my bit about how the NHS is free at the point of delivery and it was Liberals such as Lloyd George and Beveridge who we have to thank for it, when she stopped me… “It’s not the treatment I can’t afford to pay for, it’s the flipping parking”! This prompted me in to further investigation and I saw her point. The current minimum charge to park at the hospital is £4 for 3 hours. If you have to leave and go back on the same day, you have to pay it twice and if you have to attend on a regular basis (like my resident was supposed to do) you are expected to pay at least the minimum each time. It was then that I realised how she on her fixed income (pension) could not find the additional c.£36 per month to access the services she had a right to receive and I got increasingly outraged on her behalf – especially when she told me that she was usually in and out within the hour.

It didn’t take long for me to also realise that we were not alone in feeling this way and a quick Google search unearthed a number of articles within the Watford Observer on the issue, with the Liberal Democrats on Watford Borough Council taking the lead in a campaign to get the fee charged to park at WGH significantly reduced or at least restructured so that one can pay in smaller increments. So I decided to lend my weight to the campaign from the point of view of Three Rivers’ residents for whom the private car is not a luxury but a necessity due to the lack of viable public transport alternatives, long distances from the hospital or mobility issues. So I wrote and proposed a motion (kindly seconded by Councillor Helen Lehrie of Bedmond & Primrose Hill ward) to TRDC Full Council on 21 February which I’m pleased to say was passed unanimously (despite the Tories calling for an amendment to acknowledge the Tory MP in Watford’s efforts… which I declined because as far as I see it he hasn’t been involved in this campaign at all!)

The motion was as follows:

MOTION: Car parking charges at Watford General Hospital (WGH)

• This Council notes that the cost of parking at WGH is a major issue to Three Rivers’ residents and the wider WGH catchment area.

• This Council recognises that last year (2009/10) the parking schemes at the three West Herts Hospital NHS Trust sites (Hemel Hempstead General Hospital, St. Albans Community Hospital and WGH) generated a loss of £87,500.

• This Council believes that of all the ‘transport modes of access’ outlined in Sec. 5 Par. 1 of the West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust Transport and Parking Strategy Policy, the private car will be the only practical choice for the majority of Three Rivers’ residents.

• This Council subsequently believes that the minimum standard charge for the general public of £4 for up 3 hours at WGH is totally unreasonable and is unduly punitive on Three Rivers’ residents.

• This Council therefore calls upon the Leader and the Chief Executive (and/or the appropriate delegated officer) to:

• Jointly write to the CEO of West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, Jan Filochowski, and The Director with Accountability for Transport & Parking, Sarah Wiles:
  • To express our belief that the pricing structure of the current scheme is unreasonable and implemented without consultation with Three Rivers’ residents
  • To explain how it disproportionately and negatively impacts on Three Rivers’ residents
  • To ask them to consider a much fairer scheme that allows users to pay in increments of one hour

• Send a copy of this motion to Dorothy Thornhill, Mayor of Watford and inform her of Three Rivers District Council’s view on this matter.