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Published on: 03/12/2020 07:09 AMReported by: rogerblaxall
Angry campaigners have called on the local hospital trust to re-think a decision to reintroduce parking charges at their sites in Southport and Ormskirk.
They came back into force on Tuesday after Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust spent £325,000 on high-tech automatic number plate recognition cameras in the summer.
A small number of groups such as relatives of patients at the end of their lives and Blue Badge holders will be exempt from the charges, though the latter will first have to validate their badge with the Trust.
The fees were suspended last March during the first wave of the pandemic.
A Southport Labour party spokesman said: “Parking charges at hospitals are already highly contentious, this though just seems a very inappropriate time for the local hospital trust to reintroduce them.
“The charges were halted when the pandemic struck and yet are now being reintroduced when it is still very much with us, so this seems rather premature.
“We will still be in the high alert category locally when this latest lockdown ends and we haven't even got through the winter yet with the increased risk that poses.
“After a decade of NHS underfunding, we understand the financial pressure the Trust feels but ask it to re-think this decision and postpone reintroducing charges, at least until the current crisis has significantly eased.”
According to the Trust’s website, Blue Badge holders make a one-off validation of their badge to receive free parking. Only when the badge is renewed will it need to be validated again. Details of how to do this are on the parking page of this website.
Parking continues to be free for: relatives of patients at the end of life, cancer patients, parents of neonatal babies, parents of children staying overnight. Patients and visitors should speak to the relevant ward or department for further information.
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