A Dundee councillor has renewed calls for parking charges at Ninewells Hospital to be scrapped.
West End councillor Richard McCready has been calling for an end to the charge since 2009 and renewed his campaign after a court ruling at Dundee Sheriff Court where four nurses were ordered to pay more than £4,000 in parking fines.
Parking at the hospital is managed by Indigo Park Services UK Ltd, and Sheriff Lorna Drummond ruled in their favour in a civil action last week.
Mr McCready said: “I think it’s something that we need to look at. The Scottish Government says it should be free to park at hospitals, so why are people that come to Dundee being penalised? It’s a tax on ill health.
“We should also be clear that a free car parking charge is a cost to the NHS budget nationally. I am not advocating a free for all at Ninewells, just that staff should be able to get free parking when they are working and that people attending for appointments or for reasonable visiting should also get free spaces.
“We must also do all that we can to make Ninewells accessible to people without the need to take their car to the hospital.”
The councillor has written to NHS Tayside and to the Cabinet Secretary for Health Shona Robison about the issue.
The parking charges were introduced under a Labour administration, but Mr McCready is adamant party politics do not come into his considerations over the matter.
He said: “I am not going to stick with something just because it was a Labour government that introduced it. To me it’s about doing what’s fair. I have supported Labour movements to take it away in the past.
“We can resist that or we can move into the 21st century.”
Mr McCready regrets what happened to the four nurses who were ordered to pay fines to Indigo Park Services, but says it is not his place get involved in the workings of the courts.
“Once politicians start interfering with the courts then that leads to a banana republic. Having said that, it does seem to me unfair so I think it does show the inequity of the situation.”
NHS Tayside is locked into a long-term contract with Indigo Parking to run car parking facilities at Ninewells.
An Indigo spokesperson said: “We run the contract to enforce parking restrictions at Ninwells in order to keep the site safe and free-flowing for users including emergency vehicles.
“Three motorists on numerous occasions did not abide by the Terms and Conditions of the car park. The motorists ignored the Parking Charge Notices issued and declined to use the formal appeals process. On average, over 12 separate notices were issued, which equated to an average of £1,360 of unpaid charges per person. These motorists will have received an average of 84 letters each on how they could appeal or settle their outstanding notices.
“Cases are constantly reviewed and we only consider legal action as a final resort.”
