A WOMAN has accused a parking operator of “profiteering from people’s desperate situations” after she was fined at Colchester Hospital when visiting her ill father.
Juliette Bingham was accompanying her 85-year-old mother to the Gainsborough Ward at Colchester Hospital on Tuesday, May 14 after her father suffered a stroke.
She drove into the car park at 10.30am but says she spent 20 minutes looking for a space, not realising a parking camera had recorded her registration plate.
Mrs Bingham, of Bures, Wormingford, then parked her car and paid for three hours parking whilst she took her mother inside.
By the time she had seen her father and escorted her mother back to the car park, she had overstayed her limit in the car park b 23 minutes, leaving at 1.53pm.
Mrs Bingham, 58, was hit with a £70 parking fine on Friday and said she was certain there were scores of others who were in her position and simply accepted the fine.
She said: “My father is dying in hospital after a stroke and I have just received a parking fine of £70 – it’s a very inhumane system at that hospital and I think it’s something that has to be discussed.
“It’s so unfair and inhumane – it’s sort of shocking, actually, because I have paid for that parking but I had to drive around and around and around to find a space.
“When I go in now it makes me really nervous – I have to make a note of the time I go in and make sure I pay longer than I am in that car park.
“It is not like I have tried to park for free – I have been punished for being in one of the most stressful situations in my life and I am not prepared to sit by and let this happen.”
What the hospital said...
The East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) told the Gazette they will cancel Mrs Bingham's PCN.
The associate director of facilities, Mike Munro, said: "He said: “We appreciate the main visitor car park at Colchester Hospital can be particularly busy at peak times.
"We’re sorry to hear about this visitor’s experience and for any confusion caused regarding payment for the length of their stay – as a gesture of goodwill we are very happy to cancel the penalty charge notice on this occasion.
“As with many public car parking facilities, we have ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) in place in our hospital car parks.
"This tracks both a vehicle’s arrival and departure time so an accurate fee can be charged; our parking tariffs also factor in the first 30 minute period of parking time, which is free.
“Signs throughout the car park do let our patients and visitors know what the options for payment are, including paying at a designated pay station before leaving, or via an app on their mobile phone if they know how long their length of stay will be.
“If anyone believes they have received a fine in error in our car parks, we’d encourage them to contact us at their earliest convenience so we can investigate further.
"The Trust’s travel team is very happy to listen to appeals.”
Appeals can be made by emailing travel.plan@esneft.nhs.uk
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