FREE hospital car parking is set to be introduced in Northern Ireland from May 2024. Sounds like a great idea. What’s not to like? Well, quite a lot actually.
Something which on the face of it seems straightforward is actually complex and complicated. This proposed policy change is a perfect illustration of a populist idea, unanimously supported by our MLAs, a vote winner that has not been appropriately thought through. The more you look at it, the more you realise that it will cause chaos and make a bad situation considerably worse.
The debate about car parking at hospitals is a long-standing political hot potato. There are essentially two separate components: provision for staff and provision for patients and their families.
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Firstly, the idea that free parking should be provided as a reward for hard-working staff is neither equitable nor logical. The popular argument that low-paid hospital workers, particularly those who work shifts, should not be asked to fork out for car parking charges doesn’t stack up.
Free parking is regressive, a subsidy to those who are likely to earn more. Government statistics shown that the poorer you are, the less likely you are to own a car. It is the better off who are more likely to take advantage of free parking rather than choosing a taxi or public transport. Not all hospital staff are poorly paid, and it is therefore unfair.
Isn’t the real injustice experienced by those who cannot afford a car and are forced to rely on public transport or taxis? Why not invest in public transport?
This also raises the question of why hospital staff and not other low-paid workers. The idea of rewarding the ‘sacrifice’ of care workers emerged during the pandemic, when they were deemed to have gone above and beyond the call of duty. Post-Covid, public transport has resumed, and its use should be supported and encouraged. This policy also normalises the notion that the day-to-day running of hospitals depends on the ‘sacrifice’ of staff.
Secondly, it will not make parking any easier, indeed it is likely to have a profoundly negative impact on patients and visitors.
Go to the Royal Victoria Hospital any day of the week and there is a queue to get in, with drivers circling the car park desperately hoping to find a space. An FOI revealed that staff here are currently parking in 80% of spaces allocated to visitors.
Car parking is a limited resource. Given there are no plans to provide additional spaces, this will make a bad situation even worse. Double yellow lines, disabled spaces, grass verges, pavements and loading bays will be fair game for the exasperated drivers. Frustrations will increase, car parking will inevitably encroach onto private streets as drivers see no alternatives. Additionally, the blanket provision of free spaces will inevitably be abused by those who decide to park there and walk to the nearest shops.
What of the environmental concerns? This policy is in many ways a reflection of our car-centric society. Ironically, given the hospital setting, public health issues associated with an over-reliance on the car appear to have been completely ignored.
Air pollution is one of the biggest health risks across Europe, with attributable deaths including heart disease, stroke and a number of cancers. There is no mention of active travel, campaigning for safe walking and cycling routes that would benefit all, regardless of income. Making alternative arrangements practical and feasible could involve working with local councils to provide shuttle buses or safe walkways.
The current system of hospital car parking charges is complex, uneven and unfair. There are better policy solutions that involve a compromise between free and outrageously expensive. No-one should be ripped off, but I don’t think many people object to a modest charge when visiting a hospital. There should be designated spaces for emergency visitors to intensive care and exemptions for a number of groups including parents of sick children.
There no such thing as a free hospital car park and it is wrong to subsidise private car ownership out of hospital funds. It is estimated that this will cost the healthcare system £10 million per year, money that could be better spent elsewhere.
Free parking costs money and this money comes from budgets that would be better used for patient care, not patients’ cars.
