Martin Field, The Old School House, Burley Gate, says clinic delay costs car drivers dearly (From Hereford Times)

Martin Field, The Old School House, Burley Gate, says clinic delay costs car drivers dearly

3:00pm Wednesday 23rd May 2012 in Letters

YESTERDAY I had an appointment at Hereford County Hospital involving a check-up on a longstanding condition.

The appointment had been changed at the hospital’s request, and I had been sent a reminder to ensure that I turned up.

I arrived early, to ensure that staff weren’t delayed, took a car park ticket and then went to the general gastroenterology clinic. My appointment time came and went, with very little happening, and there was an announcement that everything was running roughly 45 minutes late.

When I was finally seen the consultation took barely three minutes and I returned to my car, leaving the premises 90 minutes after first entering the car park. For those 90 minutes, half of which were due to hospital delays over which I had no control, I was charged a parking fee of £4.

This is wrong.

I am prepared to accept changed appointments, turn up early and generally do everything possible to help the hospital run smoothly.

I do not like parking charges but I am prepared to pay a reasonable amount for the period that my appointment should have taken.

To have to pay an increased fee of £4 because I had to wait for 45 minutes before being seen would suggest that the system needs changing.

Herefordshire Council’s own figures show that wages in Herefordshire are not particularly high.

With the imposition of such punitive parking charges, why do we pretend otherwise?

MARTIN FIELD, The Old School House, Burley Gate.